


Alex, you gotta fend for yourself..

by Impalaofthelord



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angelica is a bad ass angel, Angst, Anxiety, Disclaimer: i dont know how to tag, Eliza is an angel in general, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Foster Care, George Washington is a Dad, I'm Sorry, Jefferson is a dick, King George is a Dick, M/M, Martha is a saint, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Peggy is a sassy angel, Sammy Seamonster is, Sickfic, There will definitely be tags to add later on, also a dick, and peggy, kinda??, lets be honest, or tags that i forget to add, surprise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2018-11-28 07:20:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 54,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11412999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Impalaofthelord/pseuds/Impalaofthelord
Summary: When his Mother and cousin both die, and a devastating hurricane tears through his town leaving no survivors except for him, Alexander Hamilton is thrown head first into the corrupt mess that is the American Foster Care System at the age of 13.After three years of being thrown from home to home, each one being significantly worse than the last, Alex finds himself in the care of the Washingtons and their adoptive french son.However, will Alex be able to overcome his past experiences with foster famililes and learn to trust these people?*******(Aka, Another Foster Care AU





	1. Chapter 1

Hunched in the back of his case worker's car, driving away from his latest and possibly his worst placement, Alex knew that he ought to feel relieved...  
He assumed that getting out of his latest hellhole would make him feel relieved and free.

 

So why didnt he?

 

Could it be the fact that his case worker, Samuel Seabury, had been shouting at him non-stop from the moment he was shoved out of the King's household about how disappointed he was?

 

"I cannot even comprehend-- How in hell do you manage to screw up in every home?" The man asked loudly, his tone odd as he was looking at Alex in the rearview mirror, "George King is one of my dearest friends. Him taking you in was a special favour to me, because he is a good man."

Alex had to refrain from laughing at that, instead holding his tattered backpack closer to his chest and keeping his head resting against the window

At first, George King had welcomed Alex into his home with a wide smile and immediately offered him a cup of tea. He had seemed genuinely happy to have him. 

That facade, however, didnt last long. After barely four months of his placement with the man, King had called Mr Seabury and, with dramatically fake hysterics, demanded that he come and collect Alex because he couldnt handle the 'Violent Tendacies' anymore. 

Seabury was there within a day... And he didnt give a second glance to the bruises and cuts decorating the side of the sixteen year olds face.

 

"This is it, Alexander." Seabury hissed and Alex flinched involuntarily at the use of his full name, "This is your last chance. After this, it's group homes. The Washingtons are a well known, great couple, and so generous to take a boy like you in. So don't do anything stupid, Alright?"

Alex didn't respond. By now, he knew that Seabury's definition of 'Great' was far from his. But he couldn't help but think that the name 'Washington' sounded familiar.

"I said, Alright?" He said with more force, and Alex took a shaky breath, nodding slightly and pushing his long hair out of his eyes before speaking in a quiet voice that he barely recognized as his own,

 

 

"Yes, Sir."

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

After half an hour of driving past city traffic, Seabury pulled his car up to a train station and hissed at Alex to get out quickly before grabbing him discreetly by the sleeve of his black, worn out hoodie and leading him through the station to a crowded platform.

 

"Get on this train," The man muttered to Alex, pulling a scrunched up ticket from deep in his sleek jacket pocket and handing it to the Teen, "You will get off in a station in Virginia and someone will pick you up."

"Virginia?" Alex parroted with wide eyes, all of his placements has been in and around the general area of New York, "But--"

"No 'But's, Alexander. You're lucky anyone agreed to take you in at all, so be grateful." he was cut off coldly, so he just nodded and took the ticket, "Good. Your train leaves in a few minutes. As much as I pray I never have to see you again," he paused to look Alex up and down with something skin to disgust painting his features, "We both know chances of that are slim."

And with that, he turned and left. Leaving Alex standing alone, shivering like a leaf on the cold, outside train platform.

"Goodbye to you too." He murmured, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and turning towards the tracks and uncrumpling the train ticket for a hint at what he was supposed to do.

 

A minute later, Alex was boarding the train and ignoring the concerned looks he was getting as he did so. He sat on his allocated seat and leaned his head against the window, eventually falling asleep to the loud sounds of the train.

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

Alex awoke with a start as a woman placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Dear, but this is the last stop"

 

Shit.

 

"Sorry. Th-Thank you, Ma'am" he said with a slightly raspy voice due to the pain in his throat, which he assumed was due to how he had slept.

The woman just smiled at him and opened her mouth to speak, possibly to voice the concern clear in her kind eyes, but Alex had already jumped up and rushed off the train while once again flinging his backpack over his shoulder. He looked around the crowded train station helplessly, What now?

  
Seabury said someone was supposed to meet him, but how would he recognize that person?

Alex stepped out of the way of one person, only to end up in the path of another person who simply shoved him out of the way with their shoulder and shot him a glare.  
That shove sent him into the middle of the crowd of people walking both directions, most of them ignoring him and others giving him looks that ranged from concern, to amusement, to disgust.  
He felt his breath begin to catch in his throat and forced himself to try and calm down. _In, un deux trois, Out, un deux trois_ he coached himself in his head, backing away from the crowds and flinching when he heard an unfamiliar voice call his name,

 

"Alexander?" the voice called. It was an adult male's, and Alec looked around frantically to try and find the source, panic and fear rising in his throat again like bile, _In, Un deux trois, Out, Un Deux Trois,_ "Alexa-- Ah, Hello!"

He turned just in time to see a large man with dark skin and a kind smile come towards him, and without thinking, Alex took a few steps back

"My name is George Washington." The Man-- George, said softly, approaching Alex slower than before, "I didn't mean to startle you, it is very crowded in here..." he said with a chuckle.  
He sounded kind, trustworthy...But so did the other George he had stayed with.

When Alex didn't say anything in reply and instead he looked down slightly, Washington's eyes softened and he nodded slightly as if understanding that he didn't want to speak, "Alright, then. Well, why don't you follow me to the car so we can get you back to the house. You must be exhausted..." he said as he started to walk, Alec following at a small distance behind him, "I wanted Samuel to book you a flight so you didn't have to spend so long on one of those trains but he refused. Said that the train ticket was already bought"

 

He continued to speak as they walked, but the words were lost to Alex. His vision was out of focus and all the sounds were blurring together as he tried desperately to calm himself down and slow both his erratic breathing and his equally erratic heart beat.

_In, Un deux trois, Out, Un deux trois._

_In, Un deux trois, Out, Un deux trois._

_In, Un deux trois, Out, Un deux trois._

_In, Un deux trois, Out, Un deux trois._

_In, Un deux trois, Out, Un deux trois._

_In, Un deux trois, Out, Un deux trois._

_In, Un deux trois, Out, Un deux trois._

_In, Un--_

 

"Alexander? Son, It's okay... We're at the car. Can you please get in the car for me?" George's voice cut through Alex's thoughts like a hot knife and Alex blinked, looking up into the man's seemingly concerned gaze and then averting his eyes.

 

_It was just an act_ , he reminded himself sternly, _He'll show how much he hates you eventually_.

 

"S-Sorry, Sir..." He said quietly as he climbed through the now open car door onto the back seat, not trying to hear Washington's reply as the man also got in and started the car, instead he just took his backpack off so he could hold it in his lap.

 

"Alexander--" Washington started, looking over his shoulder at Alex, who looked up to meet the man's eyes and spoke quietly but clearer than he had spoken in a while,

 

"Alex"

"Pardon?"

"P-Please, Call me Alex..." He said less sure of himself, heat climbing his neck as he realized he _shouldn't have said anything_

 

But, to his surprise, Washington's face broke out in a massive smile, "Alex it is, then!" he said warmly, "I was just going to say, the drive is long...In case you want to try and get some sleep"

 

Alex hesitated, then nodded, resting his head against the window as George began to drive and eventually drifting off to the oddly calming sounds of his off-key humming.

 

He felt safer in this car than he had any right to be.

 

He felt _too safe._

 

_He couldn't let himself do that_

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex finally goes to his new home and meets Martha & Lafayette!

 

There's water everywhere.

  
Falling from the sky... Flowing like the rapids in a river down the streets, but with the sheer vastness of an ocean.  
The only thing louder than the screams and the cries of anguish is the wind.  
The wind that, in itself, sounded much akin to the tortured screams of those dying or dead.

 

Alex is situated on top of a mound of rubble that once housed him and the family that had taken him in after his cousin had died. After his mother died.

 

"Mama! Papa! Alexander, Por favor! Help!"

 

He spun to see Tatiana, the daughter of the family that took him in and the closest thing he has to a sister, trapped under the rubble, only her head and one of her arms visible. Without even breathing, Alex rushed over to her and started trying to pull the rocks off her. They wouldn't budge, but alex kept trying, gripping the rocks and pulling with all the strength in his small body, his hands beginning to bleed and the rising water level climbed to his knees.

"Alexander, Ve...Ve.." Tatiana said between coughs, the spanish doing nothing to calm him as he gripped her arm and tried to pull her out before the water reached her head, "Hermano pequeno, por favor...vete"

"No!" Alex cried out, dropping to his knees and trying to elevate her head away from the water while tugging at her arm between sobs, "No me ire!"

 

"Alex..." a soft voice cut through the winds, vaguely familiar...

 

But he didn't care. He just held the now limp hand of his foster sister and sobbed, "Mi Hermana..."

 

"Alex, It's just a nightmare. Come on, Son. Wake up, We are here...."

 

A dream...Alex looked around to see the world slowly fading, "Lo siento" he choked out before his eyes flew open and he found himself gasping for air and staring into the worried eyes of George Washington.

 

"I-I'm so S-sorry, I--" He gasped out, feeling the wetness on his flushed cheeks from tears he must have spilled while he was  asleep, "I didn't w-want--"

 

"Shh, Son...There is no need to apologise..." The man said softly, one of his hands still resting on Alex's shoulder from when he woke him up, "Everyone has bad dreams sometimes."

Alex averted his eyes, steadying his breathing and nodding slightly as George smiled and stood up straight, and stepped aside so Alex could step out of the car and see the house, "Welcome to your new home, Alex..."

Alex stepped out of the car and--

 

 

Holy shit.

 

 

In front of him was possibly the biggest house he had ever seen from so close.

It's walls were painted bright white, the windows were large, the roof was a bright red with dormer windows and two chimneys, and the porch had large white pillars.  
And that is without mentioning the vast garden stretching out all around the house, full of flowers and trees.

"Jesus..." Alex muttered to himself, turning to look at the whole property while George chuckled behind him,

"Would you like to go inside now?"

Alex nodded numbly and followed George inside, holding his backpack close as he looked around the clean, very homely house.

He felt oddly inclined to take his shoes off. This house was too nice.

"George! Is--" A womans voice rang through the air, startling Alex slightly, and a dark-skinned woman with shoulder length curly hair and a kind face walked quickly into the room, stopping when she saw Alex, her face splitting into a wide smile, as she hend out her hand for him to shake, "Hello, Dear. My name is Martha, it's a pleasure to meet you."#

"I-I'm Alex. It's nice to meet you too, Ma'am" he replied, reaching out with a slightly trembling hand to give her a handshake that he had been told was strangely firm in comparison to his thin, usually bruised, frame. Martha might have thought this too, because she made an impressed face at George.

Alex didn't see the concern that laced her features once he looked away, though.

 

"Please, Call me Martha. Ma'am makes me feel old" She teased and Alex just nodded, mumbling an 'alright'

 

"Alex," George started, trying to get the boys attention, and Alex looked up at him, "Why don't I give you a house tour and then show you your room, okay?"

Alex just nodded again, and George smiled at him before leading him up the stairs and beginning the tour.

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

The tour took ten minutes, ending in a hallway of doors which Alex assumed were the bedrooms.

 

"These are the bedrooms"

 

_Knew it._

 

"The one at the end is Mine and Martha's, that one is Gilbert's," He said gesturing at the doors, "And this one, beside Gilbert's, is yours." And then George pushed open the door to the bedroom that was now Alex's.

 

Alex stopped, staring into the large room and barely stuttering out a rather childish, "A-All of it?" as he slowly took a few steps inside, George chuckling behind him again.

"Yes, Alex, All of it. It's rather bare right now, but I am sure Martha will drag you out shopping soon enough to get some belongings"

When Alex spun around to object, George was already retreating, "I will give you some time to settle in. Martha and I will be just downstairs if you need anything at all, alright?"

He nodded slightly and George smiled, turning to walk away when Alex found his voice and forced out a, "W-wait, Sir.." and George turned around, "Th-Thank you, for...all of this" he whispered, and George smiled wider,

 

"Get some rest, Son..."

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

"He's here? Can I see him?"

 

Alex had eventually fallen asleep on top of his sheets on his bed, still exhausted from the past few days, and he woke up to a heavily French accented voice floating through the wood of his door.

 

"Alright, Gilbert, But if he is still asleep, let him be.."

 

 

_Martha._ and...Gilbert?

 

 

Before Alex even managed to fully sit up, the door creaked open and light flooded into his room, causing him to throw a hand up to cover his eyes from the sudden brightness,

 

"Sorry, Mon Ami! I believed you to be asleep!" Gilbert's cheery French voice floated through the room, "Bonsoir, though, Je m'appelle Lafayette! Though George and Martha call me Gilbert."

 

He felt a weight sag down one side of the mattress and removed his arm to see a boy around his age with a wide smile on his face and his frizzy hair in a bunch behind his head, who seemed to perk up even more when Alex looked at him,

 

_"_ Il est quelle heure?" Alex asked sleepily, hearing Lafayette's accent and immediately slipping into French without thinking, the language warm and comforting to him.

 

"Il est sept heures du soir!" Lafayette responded immediately, looking so ecstatic he may spontaneously combust, "Tu parler francais?"

 

"Oui. Et Espagnol et Anglais,De toute évidence..." Alex said with a small yawn, sitting up properly and averting his eyes from the other boy's when he thought he had perhaps overstepped, but...

 

"C'est super! Je t'aime bien, Alexander!" Lafayette said grinning, and for some reason...him saying his full name didn't make Alex want to throw up or hide in a corner, "However, Martha said that dinner was ready and if you were hungry you should come down.." he paused, "She said to come down if you weren't, anyway. You are très mince, Mon Ami. Very thin. And we got Pizza!"

 

 

Perhaps, maybe, there was a small chance that he could be happy here--

 

 

 

_NO._ _He reminded himself as he made his way downstairs sluggishly with the strange French ball of energy bouncing in front of him, You know you can't._

 

_JUST YOU WAIT._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all so much for the support!
> 
> Proud to say I did the French and Spanish in here from memory ( ;) ), with no accents so I apologize for that, but if you'd rather I wrote in English and made it bold to show it is French or Spanish in the future, please let me know <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner!  
> TW, sorta, for panic attacks & memories of physical and verbal abuse.
> 
> (( Also some swearing but y'all have gotta accept that's gonna happen :) ))

Lafayette led Alex through the house and into the kitchen, where George and Martha were sitting on the opposite side of a counter top covered in a few large pizza boxes and talking, though they immediately stopped whenever he entered the room and moved to sit beside Lafayette when he sat down opposite George, leaving Alex opposite Martha.

"Maman, papa." Lafayette said by means of greeting, picking up a slice of pizza and tilting his head back to catch the cheese that was stringing off the end, then taking a large bite out of it, which caused Martha to let out an exasperated but fond breath of amusement,

"Gil." Martha greeted back, then turned her smiling face to Alex, who had been entirely silent since he came down, choosing instead to stare absently at the marble countertop in front of him, "Alex, Dear, How did you sleep?"

Alex looked up at that and mustered a small, probably very pathetic looking, smile, "Fine, thank you, Ma'-artha." He said quietly, catching himself before he called her Ma'am, which only made her smile grow

"Good, I hope Gilbert wasn't too much of an eccentric personality to wake up to. I wouldn't have woken you at all...But you need to eat. So please, eat away..."

Alex looked at the pizza in front of him and suddenly felt ten times more sick than he had when he woke up, but after one look between the expectant faces of both Martha and George, he picked up the smallest piece of pizza he could find, which was still too big for his likings and took a much smaller bite than Laf had, but it seemed to satisfy the Washingtons, because they both smiled and went back to eating their own pizza.

 

They all continued to eat as Lafayette chattered away, telling everyone about what had happened in his second period debate class, but Alex wasn't exactly listening.

His mind was wandering back dangerously to the first meal at his last home...And the home before that...And the home before that...

They had all seemed so welcoming and strangely nice on the first meal, and Alex had been stupid enough to let himself be fooled into thinking he was safe every single time. After King, he wouldn't be that stupid again. That was the last straw.

Alex was still thinking about it, having finished his single slice of pizza that, to him, felt like a buffet, when Lafayette suddenly directed his words at him,

 

"--Don't you, Mon Ami?"

 

"Sorry, What?" Alex said sheepishly, heat climbing up his neck. _Great_ , he thought, _now you sound idiotic as well_...

But Lafayette just smiled, "Speak my language, Alexander, Speak French. Yes?"

 _Oh_ , "Um, Yes."

"Fluently?" George asked, leaning forward with his elbows on the table, and all Alex found himself able to do was nod, "That's very impressive, Alex. Do you speak any other languages?"

"Fluently?" He asked quietly, and George nodded, and when Alex hesitated momentarily to answer, Lafayette spoke instead, saying,

"Spanish. He said upstairs..in French! I was quite surprised at the random use of my native language when I entered the room, but Mon Ami seemed to have barely noticed he was speaking it until I pointed it out. It made me happy. None of my other friends have learned to speak it yet, they are very...how you say..Grossier?" he paused to raise an eyebrow at Alex, who, even though Laf actually knew the word and just wanted to prove that Alex did too,  immediately helped him out by murmuring the translation,

"Rude."

Laf clicked his fingers and pointed at Alex, "Oui. They can be very rude about my being French, sometimes." He looked pointedly at George and Martha as if to say 'See?'

"Impressive, Alex. Did you learn them at different points or just grow up speaking all three?" Martha asked

"I...grew up learning all three." He replied, fiddling with his fingers under the table and then speaking quieter, "At first, I got them mixed up a great deal, sometimes my sentences would contain all three languages. It took barely a year here to fully sort out that problem. I'm fine now."

It took less than a year. Six months, if he was going to be precise. In his first foster home, he found out that Americans got annoyed when he accidentally mixed English with Spanish or French, and made it their problem to...fix him and stop him from doing it.

_He still had a few of the bigger scars on his back._

"Yes, I did that a lot when I first came to live with the Washingtons, and I still do sometimes. But less." Lafayette said with a small smile directed at Alex, a small, understanding smile, "Its not really a problem. I've been told it makes me sound exotic. So imagine how Spanish would sound." He wiggled his eyebrows and Alex found himself fighting a genuine smile for the first time in a long while.

 

~~~*~~~

 

Martha nudged her husband in the ribs while they cleared the counter, gesturing to the two teenagers who were still interacting.

They had started to clear up a few minutes ago when Alex said he was not hungry and politely refused to eat the last few pieces of pizza, but he had continued to speak with Gilbert the whole time they cleared up, Their conversation in both English and French, Gilbert drawing more almost-smiles from the new teenager than Martha would have thought possible so soon.

"Look," She whispered to her husband, "They're interacting"

George turned to look at the two, "I told you that Gil would be good for the boy," he murmured with a sad smile directed at Alex, "There's something about him, Martha, I don't think Seabury's stories about him were all true."

"Me neither.." Martha replied, watching Alex flinch when Gilbert raised a fist to 'bro fist' him, before turning to her Husband "I really hope my hunch is wrong, George, but they rarely are..."

George sighed, "I know, Dear. I'll get some calls in tomorrow. See what I can figure out, since Seabury said that his file was 'Unavailable' "

"What does that even--"

"It means, I assume, that there is some things he doesn't want us to know.."

Martha opened her mouth to reply, but stopped abruptly when the noise of a chair clattering to the ground rang through the room, catching her attention, and she looked over to see a terrified looking Alex staring between the chair, Gilbert, who's arms were outstretched in a 'I wont hurt you' way, and both the adults, as if they were all going to attack him

"I'm..." Alex started, probably wanting to apologize, but his breath noticeably caught in his throat and he gripped the doorframe as he started to hyperventilate slightly, his hair falling in front of his eyes

"Son.." George said softly , moving as if to step forward, and Alex's gaze fell on him, more panic filling his eyes before he turned, sprinting out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Gilbert looked between George and Martha with wide eyes, "I-I didn't mean to..." He trailed off and looked at the chair, swallowing before continuing, "I swear, I--"

"We know, Son, It wasn't you. Martha--"

"Yep, on it" She muttered, already making her way past them and up the stairs.

 

~~~*~~~

He didn't think anything was going to happen. But then again, he never really does.

 

 

One minute, they were having a conversation about languages, then they ended up on the topic of inequality,

"Ugh, O-okay, firstly," Alex had started in English, before swiftly changing to French to feel more comfortable, " **Its completely and entirely ridiculous for anyone to treat other people differently based on who they are. We are all human beings, It is absurd how people decide to discriminate against people purely based on their country of origin, their skin, their religion, or their sexual orientation and I** \--"

Lafayette made an affirming noise and raised his fist for Alex to fistbump.          But... Alex didn't know that.

He flinched away from it, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he waited for the inevitable blow.

 _Of course. You spoke too much and this is the punishment_.

 _Don't talk, you agreed, Talk less_.

 

 _'For fuck sake, Alexander, Why don't you ever fucking shut up'_ He heard his second foster father, Richard Howe, shout loudly in his ear, slapping him across the face and punching him when he turned his head, _'You immigrant filth! Can't you see?'_ Another punch to the stomach _,  'No one cares! Stop talking!'_

_No one...cares... no one.._

 

"Alexander..." Lafayette's softer, quieter voice cut through the memory before it even started, and a hand was set on his shoulder, causing him to gasp and flinch backwards so violently that he toppled backwards off the chair, knocking it to the ground with him but immediately standing up, looking around to realize that everyone in the room was staring at him.

You knocked over the chair, idiot. You disrupted their night. You disrupted their lives.

"I-I'm-" He tried to apologize, but his breathe caught in his throat, a sadly familiar choking sensation bubbling up his oesophagus, and he saw black creep into the corners of his vision as he struggled to breathe.

Alex grabbed onto the door frame as a last effort to calm his breathing and not fall over from the dizziness, his hair falling in front of his face as he hyperventilated, just needing to try and breathe.

Just... _Breathe_

 

 _In, un deux trois. Out, un deux trois._ He reminded himself

_In, un deux trois. Out, un deux trois._

In, un deux... In, un deux trois...

_Out, un...deux.. In, in...Trois_

_In, un....In, un...In, un.._

_Out, un. In, un_

 

It _wasn't working._

 

"Son.."

 

Alex darted his gaze to George and all his panicked, exhausted mind would supply was:

_Threat. He is a threat. run._

_You've caused a scene. Run!_

_He isn't happy with you. Run!_

_This is where it starts. Run!_

_Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run! Run!_

 

So he ran.

 

Alex sprinted up the stairs and down the too-long corridor into the room that they said was his.

It wouldn't be long now. Until things got bad with this home too.

 

He closed the door and paced for a bit, tears streaming down his face as he ran clammy hands through his hair continuously, still trying and failing to control his breathing as the darkness crept into the corners of his vision again and he slid down the wall, curling in on himself and letting the darkness take him _this time_.

He distantly heard someone say his name before everything went dark and he joined the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading, Mes petits lecteurs!
> 
> I made the decision to put the longer French into bold English, instead of actual French.  
> It seemed easier for everyone <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Worried family, and is there such thing as Angsty-fluff?

Martha jogged up the stairs quickly, worry pushing adrenaline through her veins like wildfire as she ran through her thoughts at a million miles an hour.

As soon as Alex first walked through the front door and Martha caught a glimpse of the too-skinny boy with a flurry of bruises decorating the left side of his face and his neck, she felt the overbearing urge to take him in her arms and protect him. Then when he spoke, his quiet, short, stuttered out responses only added to her suspicion about his past.

Samuel Seabury, the boy's caseworker and one of George's old acquaintances, had insisted that Alex's file was somehow unavailable, so all the Washingtons had been told about the teenager was that he had been removed from all of his previous housings due to 'violent tendencies' and was 16 years old.

 

Martha only really believed the latter of those statements, even though the boy looked about twelve.

 

She reached Alex's bedroom and slowly opened the door just in time to see the teenager's frail form, which was propped up against the wall and curled into a ball, slump sideways, falling sideways and lying on the ground, as limp and lifeless as a ragdoll.

Without thinking, she ran towards him with a surprised shout of, 'Alexander!' as she caught his head to stop it hitting the ground. She rested his head on her lap and looked wide-eyed down at the unconscious boy, moving his hair out of his face with a shaking hand as tears burned at the back of her throat and pricked the corners of her eyes.

"What happened?" George's panicked voice came from the doorway, and Martha realized that he must have heard her shout, "Is e--" He took a few steps forward and stopped when he saw Alex, racing forward and kneeling beside them, before he repeated, slower but with just as much panic, his voice cracking like glass, "Martha, what happened?"

"I...don't know.." She confessed. She was once a nurse, but she didn't know if he had just fainted or if there was something more serious at work, "I opened the door and he was hugging his knees and leaning against the wall, then he just dropped. Slumped to the ground like a ragdoll."

"Then what--"

"Merde, Is that Alexander?" Gilbert sounded extremely worried as he rushed in to the room, speaking in rushed French before stopping himself and transferring to even more rushed English "Que s'est-il passé-- I mean, What happened? Is he Alright? Does he need--"

"Breathe, Gil, he will be alright.." George said with a look exchanged with Martha, before lifting the unconscious teenager's worryingly light body up, walking to his bed with tears forming in his eyes when Alex's head fell onto his chest with a whimper and setting him gently on the bed.

"God, I-I didn't mean to make him panic, Maman." Gilbert whispered to Martha, and she turned to him, taking in his slumped shoulders and slightly teary eyes, "I swear... I'm really sorry."

"No, No its alright, Honey, it wasn't you.." She replied softly, pulling her son into a warm hug and rubbing circles on his shoulder blades, "I think Alex needs our help with a few things, though. I think he's been through a lot..."

A small sniffle came out of the French boy, "I think so too. I like him, Maman, I don't want him to be alone anymore"

 

_Alone..._

The thought of that boy being alone with his problems for possibly so long shattered her heart a little more

 

Martha just nodded in agreement, "I know, Son...He won't be. Not anymore."

 

~~~*~~~

 

Martha eventually convinced both Gilbert and George to go to bed, leaving her with Alex.

He had barely even moved since he passed out, but Martha decided that she wasn't going to leave him alone at all until he was awake and definitely alright.

So, she sat beside him on the bed and held his smaller hand in hers, sitting in silence and occasionally murmuring sentences to him whenever a thought crossed her mind that she felt the need to share... Thoughts like:

 

_"I am not sure what you've had to go through, but you're safe now"_

_"You won't be alone again, Alex, You've got us now..."_

_"There's something about you, Alex... I can feel it. You are my son now, biology be damned."_

_"God, what has happened to you, huh? You poor boy... You deserve to be happy"_

_"We'll make it right for you..."_

_"You deserve to be happy..."_

_"I hope we can help you be happy, Dear... We'll try our best to make you happy. We'll do whatever it takes."_

 

Until, at Two AM when Martha was beginning to fall asleep, Alex stirred beside her, flinching so violently that Martha was instantly alert and whimpering out a few words in what sounded like Spanish, then...

" _Please_.."

Martha had never heard such a desperate, defeated tone in anyone, and it broke her heart a little more,

"Alex, Honey..." She whispered softly, stroking his hair out of his face, "It's just a dream"

Alex whimpered again, flinching and turning his head to the side, choking out a whisper-murmured, "Sorry..I-I'm sorry...please.." With a tear slowly rolling down his cheek,

Then another one.. _and another one... and another one..._

Until his cheeks were soaked in salty tears.

Martha wiped his cheeks gently with her thumb, putting a hand on the Teenager's slightly trembling frame and saying softly but firmly, "Alex. Wake up... Calm down..."

The boy winced, flinching as if he had just been struck, "N-n-No...P-Pl-Please..."

"Alexander." Martha shook him gently and his eyes flew open with a gasp, his breathing heavy and erratic, tears flowing freely down his cheeks before his gaze landed on Martha and his red-rimmed eyes widened,

"Wh-What..." He started, sounding extremely confused, before he half sat up, realization dawning in his dark eyes as his already labored breathing speeding up to short, quick breaths, "I-I'm so s-sorry I didn't w-want to di-disturb you I--"

"No, no, sweetie, no.." Martha said softly, taking his face gently between her hands, "You have nothing to apologize for. Can you breathe for me, Alex? In...Out...In...Out.." She coached in a kind voice, stroking back his hair and slowly but surely, his breathing returned to a relatively normal pace and she smiled, "Good, Very good..." She praised, and he looked for a moment like he was going to attempt to smile back, before tears filled his eyes again and Martha decided it was best to just.. hug him.

So she did.

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, whispering soothing things in his ear as he weakly hugged back and sobbed into her shoulder, eventually falling back asleep in her arms, so she stayed with him the whole night.

He slept soundly, finally safe in Martha's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this extremely short chapter, Tiny Humans! <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of Mother Martha, Bit of Angst, Bit of Lams :)))))))))

Normally when Alex wakes up, it's suddenly and violently after a nightmare that has had it's claws so deep in his mind, waking up does nothing to stop the feelings it created. And, even when he hasn't had a nightmare, he usually only gets a few seconds of calm before the weight of everything that has happened to him and because of him crashes down on him like a meteor

This time, however, Alex woke up feeling safer and warmer than he could remember feeling in a long, long time. His mind drifted in a blissful state of unawareness as he burrowed closer to the source of his comfort and his senses slowly began to start working,

"--today." A male voice whispered. _Who was that?_ Alex thought absently, not awake enough to recognize them by their voice

"Thank you, George." A female voice whispered back, sounding closer to him, "I'll stay with him until he wakes up, then. Did Gil say something about having his friends over?"

Gil? Gilbert? _Lafayette_. _Of course_.

He was in the _Washington's_ house. He was... _Sleeping_ on Martha? George was...in the doorway?

More puzzle pieces clicked into place.

The _dinner_. The _panic attack_. He _collapsed_ and heard...Martha? God, he even woke up in the middle of the night and ended up falling asleep _on Martha_. It had barely been a day and he had already caused so much trouble, he tensed slightly as he realized this. They were going to be _so_ angry. _So_ upset at him for wasting their time. But then... Martha started rubbing his back, possibly thinking he was having another nightmare.

 _No_ , he wanted to correct her, _But I think I might be living one._

"He did, yes. John and Hercules..." George replied with an air of hesitance, "Should I...ask them not to come?"

"No, no I think that they should still come" Martha answered quietly, her hand now playing with his hair and without looking, Alex knew she was looking down at him

 _Hercules_. Never did he expect to be in the same house as someone called Hercules, Alex realized fleetingly, brow creasing.

A hand stroked hair out of his face ( _Martha_ 's hand, he reminded himself) murmuring calming things, and Alex panicked before realizing that he needed to continue to pretend to sleep. They would be angry if they knew he had been awake and listening to their conversation without saying anything to let them know he was conscious

"I think you're right, Martha.."  George paused, "Would you like me to bring anything up?"

"Two glasses of water, Thank you, George." Her hand continued to stroke his hair, "I think Alex might wake up soon.."

Shit, Did she know he was awake? Jesus she's going to be so annoyed that he didn't tell her so she could get up and finally move after being trapped with him all night.

"No problem.." George whispered, and Alex could hear the smile in his voice before he heard the soft squeak of the door being mostly closed, the small click after showing that it had bounced back open instead of closing fully.

Martha continued to stroke his hair back from his forehead each time it fell, humming softly.

That's when Alex decided to 'wake up'

He moved a little, as if shuffling to get comfortable, making a very small, realistic half-breathing half-coughing noise before groggily opening his eyes and genuinely jumping a little when he was immediately met with Martha's happy yet concerned gaze,

"Good afternoon, Alex..." She said softly and Alex sat up quicker than either of them had expected, immediately being struck with an overwhelming dizziness that had black creeping in through the corners, accompanied by a wave of nausea as large as a tsunami. Martha sat up with him, one of her hands resting on his back, "Slow down, Tiger. Are you alright?"

"I-It's afternoon? W-what time is it?" He asked quietly, staring forwards as the black slowly faded, letting him actually see

"Only 3 P.M, Alex, Don't worry. You needed the sleep, anyway."

Alex didn't turn to look at her yet, now working on ignoring the nausea and growing panic building in his gut. _Only_ three in the afternoon? He couldn't remember the last time he slept more than four hours in one time, "I...I'm sorry," He said looking down and continuing in an explanation, "For keeping you here that long. I-I usually don't sleep that much, I swear.."

"Its alright, Honey, Don't worry, you needed the sleep.." Martha repeated, then he heard the hesitant worry in her voice as she continued, "Do you...Pass out often?"

There it was. The million dollar question. The one he'd been waiting for. Still, it hit him like a brick and he didn't respond.

"At first, I thought you just fainted because of the panic attack, then you didn't wake up. And when people faint, they usually wake up within a few minutes..." She said softly, trying to get him to open up, "You can trust me enough to tell me if something is wrong, I promise. I just want to help.."

The thing is, Alex _does_ trust her. More than he should.

"I...Don't know." He started hesitantly, staring down at his hands, which were bruised from shielding his face from flying objects, like vases...or fists, "It just happens sometimes, when I panic. I-I can usually stop it. I feel dizzy and everything starts to fade into black, but I can sometimes will it away," he repeats that, wanting her to know, "If I don't though, I think I just...shut down.." He said with a small shrug, "Sometimes, that's easier than dealing, you know?" Before he clamped his mouth shut. Too much talking. Talk _less_. He could feel memories of times he had 'shut down' in previous homes and woke up with new arrays of bruises and cuts, even a few broken bones on occasion...

"Oh, Alex..." He had expected anger, but pity was just as bad, and he flinched away from it, "Does that mean you do it willingly? Like..." she trailed off, searching for the words

"Like shutting down a..a computer," He finished in a half-whisper, and felt her nod, "I don't bring it on willingly, if that's what you mean." He paused, then, continuing the  computer theme, spoke softer, "It-It's like when you accidentally close a tab a-and it brings up that window with the..the two buttons that say 'Ok' and 'Cancel' s-so you can choose either..."

Damn it. He was speaking _so_ much, why wasn't she stopping him?

"Does it scare you?" She asked instead, interest and concern winding around her voice like snakes.

He hesitated, before going with the shortest and simplest answer he could think of, "At first, it was terrifying. It was when I was in the middle of being-" he cut off sharping, taking a swift U turn, "But now, I have accepted that it's a...thing"

"What does it feel like?"

 _So_ many questions. Why was he still answering?

"It happens when I...freak out. So, it's like a...release from those feelings. It's like floating. An escape route, even..."

He felt her nod again, and chanced a look up at her. She looked sad, but smiled anyway.

 _Great_ , he scolded himself, _You've made her sad. Well done._

"Thank you, Alex, For telling me. I'm proud of you for opening up..."

Proud...of him? Those four words made warmth bloom low in his chest and slowly fill it up and he almost smiled. _Almost_

The door flew open and Alex flinched violently, almost toppling over as George came into the room holding two glasses, smiling when he saw Alex awake,

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you," He said apologetically, and Alex slowly sat up a little straighter, testing the waters, "It's good to see you awake, Son..."

 _Son._ The word made him feel warm, a little happy and... Sad. Overwhelmingly sad

"Th-thank you, sir..." He said instead of confronting his last thought, and something flashed across the man's eyes before he smiled sadly and handed them their waters with a quiet,

"You're welcome, Alex..."

 

~~~*~~~

 

Martha had left at 4 P.M after Alex insisted he would be fine. He promised to shower and eat the toast she will have left in his room after he did so, and she left.

Alex walked into the en-suite bathroom that was connected to his room and looked around at the too-clean room, feeling once again as if he wasn't clean enough for this house. Someone had already put all of the things he needed, like towels and shower stuff, into it's place, so Alex didn't have a real reason to hesitate as he locked the bathroom door and shrugged his jacket off, pointedly not looking at the bruises on his left wrist or upper arm as he leaned over to turn on the shower and let it warm up. Then, he peeled off his shirt and turned to look at himself in the mirror. His skin was pale and stretched thin over his slightly prominent ribs and his chest was littered in bruises and scabbed over cuts.

_Hideous._

His eyes tracked to his face and he frowned. He was pale there, too, with dark bags under his eyes and hollow-looking cheeks. he tilted his head and winced as he trailed his finger over the bruises trailing from his neck to the left side of his face, their colour ranging from light brown, to blue, to purple. His hair was hanging loosely down past his cheeks, long enough to almost reach his shoulders.

_Disgusting._

He looked away sadly, stripping completely and stepping into the spray of water from the shower, having already anticipated the stinging pain spreading across his entire body as the water hit his fresh, and old, bruises and cuts. Still, he ignored the pain and finished the shower, using the coconut shampoo and conditioner on his hair and washing it out before turning the shower off, stepping out, and wrapping a towel around his waist when he realized that he hadn't brought his clothes into the bathroom with him. He sighed as he unlocked his door, freezing when he saw the figure of a boy only a bit taller than him with brown, extremely curly hair in a ponytail.

The boy turned around when he heard the creak of the door, and Alex's heart skipped a few beats. He was...literally the human embodiment of perfection. He had hazel eyes and enough freckles that Alex could see them even from the distance.

The distance...because Alex was still in the bathroom, his head and part of his shoulder the only thing visible to the boy.

That must be why he was staring back at Alex.

The boy blinked and looked momentarily panicked, "I'm so sorry, I thought this room was still empty 'cause Laf said so but I noticed it looked...not empty so I wanted to check it out and I didn't hear the shower and I wouldn't have barged in if I knew you were...taking a shower through the wall..."

"It's...fine." Alex said softly, reaching up to move his wet hair out of his face, attempting a reassuring smile and feeling his stomach tingle when the boy smiled back, "I haven't been here long, anyway.."

"oh- Oh! Of course! You're Alex, right?" He paused when Alex nodded, pleased with the immediate shortening of his name, "I'm John. Laurens." He stepped forward, still smiling, and held out his hand

Alex looked at it for a moment, "Alex Hamilton." He said as he shook John's hand, still half hidden by the door.

"Great meeting you!" John said still smiling. He seemed to smile a lot, Alex liked his smile, "You should come down and meet Herc-- And see Laf, he seems worried about you for some reason..."

Alex frowned as John started to leave. He had made the Frenchman worry as well

"See you in a bit, Alex" John called as he left the room, and Alex did smile this time.

John Laurens, he decided then, Could be worth trusting...

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this a few days ago, but I got caught up in 12th of July celebrations <3  
> Thanks for reading and thank you all sooooooo much for the support1 <3 <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :/

After a sleepless night in his room spent worrying about his new foster brother and internally blaming himself for the sudden breakdown that had caused the petite teen to fall unconscious for such a large amount of time, Lafayette finally decided at one in the afternoon, after George's persistent knocking on the door every ten minutes to check he was still breathing, that it was time for him to venture outside his warm cocoon of blankets that he had built to keep out his own guilt and the whispers from Martha to an unconscious Alex through the too-thin walls.

 

The blankets hadn't worked, anyway.

 

The French teen peeled himself out of his bed and stumbled into the en-suite attached to his room. The house had many bedrooms, but only three of those had connected bathrooms.  
George and Martha's room, His room, and Alex's room..  
.  
The thought of Alexander made another wave of terrifying guilt wash over him like running water and he turned on the tap to wet his toothbrush, sniffing when he realised that he seemed to be crying again.  
That was another thing that had been happening, Laf realised as he stared at the water bending around the toothbrush, But he had no good reason to cry. 

  
George had updated him on Alex, and informed him that he had woke up very briefly during the night but soon fell back asleep and hasn't woken again, and all Lafayette had been able to do was nod numbly until his adoptive father set a hand on his shoulder and assured him that Alex would be fine.  
That this wasn't his fault.

 

Then, why couldn't he seem to get the image of Alex cringing away from him with eyes full of fear and panic out of his head?

Why would that of all things engrain itself in his memory if not to constantly remind him that his impulsive actions had terrified the poor boy so much he effectively collapsed?

Lafayette pushed those thoughts aside momentarily as he bound his wild hair in a messy ponytail and began brushing his teeth mechanically to the sound of the tap water rushing down the sink's plughole.

  
After all, John and Hercules were coming over any minute now.  
He had invited them over originally to meet Alex when he found out that the Teen spoke Spanish, like John, and immediately realised that the two would be great friends, which in turn meant he would hit it off with Herc as well...

 

Of course, Alex would have to be awake for that to happen...

 

He leaned against the sink with his hands and stared at his reflection.  
Hair was already slipping out from the front of the loose ponytail he had bound his hair into and his eyes were still red rimmed and mildly puffy, He looked exhausted, and mildly defeated...like he never looked anymore.

There was a time when he would have looked worse than this on a daily basis, but after six years with the Washingtons it was rare that he looked anything worse than tired.  
When he first saw Alexander, the first thing he noticed was not the impressive collection of bruises sported on his face, neck, and wrists (Even though they were all Lafayette had seen, he knew there were more), But rather the look in his eyes. Those deep brown eyes were filled with so much sadness and apprehension, it was painfully obvious that they had seen way more than any sixteen year old ought to have.

The next thing he noticed about Alexander was the fear. One moment, he was sleepily speaking French to Lafayette as if he had known him for years, the next he was sitting up wide eyed and terrified, not managing to hide his shock whenever Laf had approached him with kindness.

  
Then, in the kitchen, they were once again speaking to each other as easily as old friends, when Alex's eyes clouded with fear and panic at the simple offer of a fist bump.

With every small interaction, he was getting much closer to figuring out a few of the puzzle pieces that made up Alexander. And yet, he knew that there was absolutely no way he would ever know the full truth until Alex trusted him enough to trust him...

 

_If_ he ever trusted him...

 

Those issues could be readdressed later, though.  
Now, however, his friends were coming over soon and he didn't want them to see him looking so defeated.

Lafayette moved swiftly around his room, getting dressed quickly and putting his hair up properly before going back to his bathroom and splashing water on his face.  
His reflection was still staring back at him with sad, red-rimmed eyes with slight blue bags under them, but he could fix that before either John or Herc got here.  
Himself and Hercules had proclaimed themselves official unofficial parents to John, much to his dismay, purely because of Herc's blatant mother hen-ness and his own need to keep both his friends safe and happy, and Lafayette took that seriously.

They would worry if they showed up and he was the same crying, exhausted mess he had been all night, and he didn't need that.  
He needed them to keep him sane with their normalities until Alex was up and talking.

 

Which he knew would be soon.

 

He just... _knew_.

 

  
~~~*~~~

  
John was the first of the two to arrive at ten past four in the afternoon, swinging the front doors open without knocking, (He had considered the Washington's house his second home for years, and rarely ever knocked) and with a call of, "Honey, I'm home!" which alerted Lafayette of his presence. He walked towards the smaller boy, smiling widely  
,  
"Mon Petite Tortue! How kind of you to finally, how you say, _join the party_.." He said teasingly, but John just rolled his eyes, not able to resist smiling slightly,

 

"It's not a _party_ , you baguette, if it's only _you_ in the house." John pointed out as he walked past Laf into the living room, flopping down on the sofa.

 

Merde, that was right. Lafayette had decided not to mention Alexander's arrival to his friends in the hope that it would be a fun surprise when they finally met him, and he also hadn't mentioned how Martha was staying off work to make sure Alex, Who had woke up, Dieu Merci, was alright... or how George had blown off a standard meeting to do the same. So, both John and Hercules were going to assume that it was a 'free house', as they say, when in reality, George and Martha were in the back garden, most likely discussing the recently awoken boy upstairs.   
Oh, and he also forgot to mention any part of the Alexander situation from the previous night, so he wasn't sure how that would go down--

 

"Laf?" John's voice broke through his thoughts, "You alright, man? You seem...spacey. And tired."

 

He smiled at the smaller teen and sat down beside him, "I had some trouble sleeping is all, Mon Ami.." He said softly, not quite prepared to lie fully.

 

A short pause, then, "Nightmares?"

 

"...No, No nightmares."

 

"Shitty thoughts?" John tried to guess again, and Lafayette marvelled at how understanding the other boy was before even knowing anything. The French teenager just nodded, and John continued, "Wanna talk about it?"

 

That was a clear opening to discuss what had happened last night and let John know that Alex was here, but instead he smiled reassuringly, "No need, Ami." He said softly, then before he could talk himself out of it, continued, "Alexander arrived yesterday."

 

"Really? That's awesome, man! What's he like?" Something must have changed in Lafayette's expression, because the smile on John's face faltered, "What's wrong? Is he a dick?--"

 

"No!" Laf cut him off, "No he is great, and fluent in French, I mean--"

 

"Lafayette..." John said with a raised eyebrow, sensing that something was up,

 

"Well, no one has more resilience or--"

 

"Lafayette," John interrupted again, "What do you mean?"

 

The Frenchman just shook his head, "Nevermind, Mon Ami. You'll meet him soon and know for yourself. It's hard to, how you say, explain." He said with a smile as a sudden idea hit him, one that would introduce John to Alex, "Though, those earphones you were looking for are in the spare room beside mine, if you would like to reacquire them."

 

"I would have thought that would be Alex's room?" The other boy looked at him suspiciously, then immediately continued, "Why the hell were you even in _my_ room?" He teased. That room was the one that John stayed in for his more...extended visits. Oh, well... He could sleep in the other room..

 

"Oh, _Your_ room?" Laf teased back, and John nodded with a fake glare as he stood up, "Well, maybe I, how you say, vandalized _a few_ features. But--"

 

Before he finished speaking, the shorter teen had started making his way upstairs. Lafayette felt a little worried and guilty about sending John up to a potentially terrified Alex, but they had to meet eventually, right?

 

Maybe this wasn't the best idea, after all.   
It was too late to change his mind, though..

  
~~~*~~~

  
While John was upstairs, Hercules bounded through the front doors with his own greeting of, "The party has arrived!" As he swept Lafayette, who had walked towards him as soon as the door opened with a bright smile on his face, into a warm hug.

 

"I've missed you, Amour..." The Frenchman murmured into his boyfriend's shoulder, not waiting for a reply before continuing, "I'm so glad you came now. I will need your protection."

 

Herc pulled back from the hug with a small chuckle, one of his hands on Laf's shoulder, "I've missed you too, Laf, But why do you need me to protect you?" He sounded mildly concerned, even though part of him knew it wasn't a serious issue. Lafayette only half-confirmed this when he let out a nervous laugh, rubbing at the back of his neck and averting his gaze,

 

"Well uhm...Alexander is here, Yes... _that_ Alex-- No, let me finish," He said when Hercules seemed like he was going to interrupt, then spoke in a fast mess of jumbled English, "And I might have sent John up to his room without letting him know he was in there."

 

"Shit, Dude, that's--" Herc blew out a breath, "Why, though? I know you, you had to have a reason, right? For not telling us and then sending John up to him like that?"

 

"Yes, yes of course I did." Lafayette said mildly with a nod of his head, "Mon nouvel ami seems to have had a bad life, Herc, very bad. Last night was not a good night for him, to put things lightly, and I though that John may be able to lighten his spirits..."

 

"Oh, Laf." The other boy said with a sad smile, "I think I understand. Is that why you look more drained than usual today? Did you stay up worrying?" To this, He hesitated, then nodded, smiling sheepishly at Hercules, who shook his head with a fond smile, "Your sanity is going to drip down the drain if you do that too often, love.."

 

"But, you don't understand.." Lafayette sounded half pleading, wanting his partner to understand, "Alexander--"

 

"Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette!" John's voice interrupted loudly as he bounded down the stairs, face flushed, and Laf moved to hide behind Hercules with a squeak, 

 

"I'm sorry, Mon Petite Tortue!" He said, feeling simultaneously guilty and like he was going to laugh so hard he would pop a lung, "I meant _no_ harm!"

 

"Jesus fucking Christ, you Baguette! He was, like, naked!" The smaller boy sounded less angry now and more mortified, "Just out of the shower, i'd say, and you sent me up there?!" Lafayette did let out a laugh at that, and Hercules followed, eventually even John was chucking softly, setting a hand on his forehead, "I hate you both. Don't laugh at my humiliation and lack of earphones."

 

After a moment, Laf got a hold of himself and stood beside Herc, looking more serious, "Was he alright, though? Alexander?" And both of the other boys looked at him, knowing that the tone of voice meant that this was serious talk now. He was worried.

 

"You mean apart from the gnarly bruises and overall ill look he was rocking? He seemed alright enough. He was real nice, tried to be all reassuring when I panicked about being in his room."

 

Usually, the verbal abuse directed at John for using the world 'Gnarly' would be wide-ranged and infinite, but they let it slide this time. Hercules slipped his arm around Lafayette's shoulders as he spoke,

 

"That's good, I suppose. Which bruises did you see? You said he was half-naked, yes?" Laf paused as John nodded and then continued, "Did you see his chest or upper arms? Or his legs?"

 

"He was only half out of the bathroom, I saw the ones on his face, neck, one of his arms, and the beast of one on the side of his chest. He had a nasty on his shoulder too. And some that looked older" He paused, and it was clear that the gears in his brain were working hard, before he spoke softer, "The ones on his wrist and neck though, guys..." he shook his head, "They're from hands. There are finger marks in the bruises..."

 

The metaphorical penny drops.

Lafayette had already guessed that Alex's previous home was abusive, and this was the last piece of concrete evidence he needed.

 

"Would either of you mind if I went to speak to Mes Parents for a moment? I-I just need to--"

 

" 'Course not, Babe.." Hercules said with a soft, reassuring smile, "We'll chill here."

 

"I'll be back in a moment, Mes Amis." He said, then walked out of the room and towards the back door, pushing it open to reveal his adoptive parents sitting beside each other on the steps, talking. Their heads turned to him as he opened the door and they offered nearly identical smiles, George being the first to speak,

 

"What's wrong, son?"

 

"I know you both have your suspicions about Alexander's previous home," He started, coming to sit beside them on Martha's side, choosing not to pay attention to the apprehension in Martha's voice as she agreed,

 

"We do, and we've been looking into it..."

 

"He has more bruises that what you originally saw. John saw them" Lafayette said immediately, then continued before they could ask how, "Hand and finger shaped bruises on his neck and wrist. Big bruise on his side," he gestured briefly to the side of the bottom of his ribs, where John had pointed to, "And old ones too. Maman, Papa... How long do you think he was being abused?" Saying the word out loud made his throat feel closed over, like if he didn't say it, it wouldn't be true.  "What if it happened in more than one home?" He finished meekly and both of the adults frowned before Martha wrapped Laf in a one armed hug, holding him close,

 

"Jesus, Laf..." She breathed, and he couldn't help but feel mildly amused at the use of his preferred name, the memory of Martha telling her that parents are meant to embarrass their kids with odd names still fresh in his mind, 

 

"I have people from work trying to get the files, as well as me, of course..." George said, rubbing a hand down his face, "Once we find out what homes he has been in, we can take action."

 

"Good, I just--"

 

Lafayette cut off as a loud bang sounded through the house, and all three of them stood up and rushed into the house, expecting to see someone hurt and instead being greeted by John on the floor beside the wooden rocking chair that usually sat near the bottom of the stairs, but was now lying horizontally beside John.

Laf's eyes took in the scene fully.

Hercules was holding onto the wall and laughing so hard that tears were forming in his eyes, Martha and George were looking at the scene with both confusion and amusement, and Alex--

Not only was Alex well and downstairs, dressed in the same clothes as yesterday with his damp hair hanging down his neck, but he was holding a hand over his mouth and obviously stuck between laughing and apologizing as he stared at John on the floor.

 

" _Shit_.." John grumbled quietly, sitting up and grimacing, "That's gon' bruise..."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been writing this on and off for days, cause finding motivation to do anything is difficult, and I'm so sorry about how long it took for me to actually post it. Thank you all so much for reading this far, though! <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :))))))))))))

After John had left the room, Alex spent a few minutes with a hand clasped firmly on his forehead, face hot and breathing slightly impaired by his momentary panic about the whole situation before he pulled himself together just enough to start to get dressed. As he pulled his shirt over his head, he couldn't help but let his mind wander back to the thoughts that were previously terrorizing his brain.

 _What kind of first impression was that_?  Was one of them. John had come into this room, expecting it to be empty, only to find a small, half naked, repulsive looking bastard-orphan-immigrant half hidden behind a door. _Christ_ , he probably looked pathetic. His bruises were not something that he ever wanted anyone to see, because they were just a sign of the many times he did something to deserve punishment, and he didn't want to be defined by that. His scars were not something that he ever spoke about, because they were reminders of the past that usually only showed in his moments of panic and his nightmares. They were both things that he often tried to pretend weren't there, even if this was a near impossible thing to do.

Looking into the mirror, he half contemplated pulling his hair into a ponytail, just to keep it's long strands out of his face. Of course, he decided against this almost immediately and instead pulled on his jacket. Alex started keeping his hair down mostly to hide the bruises and single scar in his neck, because if someone were to look too closely at his scars, they would ask questions. And when  people ask questions, they expect the truth. Alex is no where near ready to lose more people over the truth.

John had asked him to come downstairs, and at first Alex wasn't going to. He thought that perhaps the boy was just being polite because he felt obliged to due to the awkward situation they were in, but when he had mentioned Lafayette being worried, he rethought. Of course. The French teen was witness to most of the events last night, and was probably curious as to what happened. ' _Worried_ ' seemed like a bit of a stretch, though. Alex had only met him yesterday, so why would he care enough to worry?

  
Making his way out of the room, Alex fidgeted with the edge of his sleeve nervously as he thought of what could happen when he went downstairs. Best case scenario, he decided, was that John didn't mention what happened and the other boy's judgement stayed silent. Worst case scenario? He wasn't going to go into detail of that for fear of a small panic attack.

  
When he made it to the top of the stairs, he froze. He could very clearly hear John conversing with another boy, who mustbe Hercules, so he decided to stop and listen.

"So? What's the dude like?" The unfamiliar voice spoke first, and Alex paled when he realised they were talking about him,

"Alex?" John replied hesitantly, confirming Alex's fear, "What do you want to know? He's nice."

"Nice like?.." Hercules teased. He had a rather deep voice..

"Shut up, Herc." The other boy said again, then Hercules made a suggestive noise and John blurted out, "Nice in all ways, okay? _Ay Dios mio, Gilipollas._ "

"Come on, Johnny, You know I don't speak Spanish, bro. What did you say?"

Alex made a split second decision, then, that he would definitely regret later. Slowly making his way down the stairs, he spoke, "He called you an asshole. _Or_ a dickhead, depending on the translation."

John spun around so quickly that his foot got caught in the leg of a wooden rocking chair and immediately went tumbling to the ground in a graceless mess of limbs, the wooden chair also falling too. The noise of Hercules laughter was background noise to Alex as he clapped a hand over his mouth in shock and took a step forward, not entirely sure whether he was about to apologize or laugh genuinely for the first time in so long. He heard doors clang open but couldn't bring himself to look away from the beautiful heap on the floor that was John.

"Shit," The heap said as he sat up, a hand on his head, "That's gon' bruise."

That was all Alex needed to snap out of it. "Oh... Oh, Christ. I-I'm so sorry.." He said in a rushed tone, unwillingly punctuating his sentence with a small laugh, "I didn't mean to startle you I was on my way down and I wanted to be helpful and my default is to translate when I understand and-- Jesus, _lo siento_ , really--" He stopped when he realised he had mixed the languages again,

"Alex," John laughed a little as he got up, smiling at a slightly panicked, confused looking Alex, "It's okay. I didn't know you spoke Spanish." When he said the last word, he turned his head and Alex followed his gaze, face flushing when he saw George, Martha and Lafayette staring at them.

"He does, did I not mention?" Laf said with a grin, taking large strides towards Alex, arms spread wide, "Mon Ami, are you well?" And it was obvious that he was probably going to go in for a hug, and although he was prepared, Alex still flinched when the teen's long arms wrapped around his smaller frame.

"I-I'm fine, thanks for asking, Lafayette.." Alex said quietly, hesitantly and awkwardly hugging the taller boy back, painfully aware of the other eyes on them as he drew back from the embrace with an obviously fake, small, sheepish smile.

"I'm glad." Lafayette replied softly, looking genuinely happy at this, though worry was still leaking through his tone, he cleared his throat and gestured over Alex's shoulder, "Have you been formally introduced to Hercules?"

Alex turned and--

And almost had an heart attack. The teenager, and he used that term loosely considering the build of the person in front of him, was so tall and intimidatingly well built that Alex was sure he would only reach to below his shoulder. Something must have showed on his face, probably something embarrassing like shock or even fear, because Hercules-- Who's name was now disturbingly accurate and made much more sense, smiled widely. It was an oddly kind smile for someone of his stature.

"Hey, Man" He said, taking a step towards Alex. Great, now he seemed larger, "Nice to meet you. I'm Hercules Mulligan."

_In, Un deux trois, Out, Un deux trois._  
_In, Un deux trois, Out, Un deux trois._

"It's...nice to, uh, meet you too..." He fought to keep his voice steady, mustering enough fake courage to do so, "I'm Alex. Hamilton."

"Awesome." And he held his hand out, in a fist. Everything slowed down. His mind raced at one hundred miles and hour as he assessed the situation. The rational part of his brain was screaming at him that he wasn't going to be hurt, that he was just trying to what Laf had tried to do last night, but the other part of his brain was panicking and throwing things around while screaming. Out of the corner of his eye, he was Lafayette looking from a mildly terrified looking Alex to a clueless Herc who was still moving his fist slowly towards Alex. So, Alex decided maybe he could surprise them and make them a _little_ proud?

Time went back to normal and he heard Laf begin to try and say something, but he was already reaching out and gently taking Hercules' hand, uncurling his fingers with a mild expression and shaking the surprised Teenager's hand firmly. Hercules smiled wider, Lafayette smiled wider, and John...he smiled too. _God_ , did he smile...  
Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, he let go of the hand and looked over his shoulder at George and Martha, who were standing together in the doorway watching the exchange with almost identical smiles, and when they saw him looking they walked over, standing on opposite sides of Lafayette.

"Hello John, Hercules." George said with a small smile

"Hey George," Hercules said as John said, "Hi G-wash", then they both continued on to say, "And Hey, Martha."

"Hello, boys." Martha replied with an easy, fond smile, her gaze then falling on Alex, "Hello again, Alex, How are you feeling?"

Swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, Alex replied, "Fine now, thank you..." in what he hoped was a steady tone.

"That's good."

It would be, if he wasn't lying..

  
"Maman.." Lafayette said once there was an opening in the conversation, "Can we bring Alex to the mal with us to get him the things that he needs?"  
Alex opened his mouth a little to reject this idea and tell them that they didn't need to buy him anything, but the words refused to form so he closed his mouth again, shrinking in on himself slightly and clasping his hands together just so he had something to grip

"That sounds like a great idea." Martha said with a smile, and George nodded his agreement when he gaze landed on him, "I'll just write a rough list of some of the stuff you need."

And that's how he ended up walking through the doors of a too-big shopping mall with his new French foster brother, Lafayette, Lafayette's ridiculously large friend, Hercules, and Lafayette's ridiculously beautiful friend, John.

"First stop..." Lafayette started, looking at his list, then continued to say, " _Clothes_." Just as John said, " _Coffee_." and they both looked at each other, a dramatic silent battle of wills going on. Then, they turned in sync to look at Hercules,

"Oh, _no way_. Don't get me involved in this." The larger Teen said with his hands up in mock surrender and a small grin on his face. So, John and Lafayette turned to him instead,

"Alex, couldn't we all do with some caffeine before being dragged around from store to store by this French lunatic?" John said surely and seriously,

"No, no, _no_. Mon Ami, We should get the thing we came here to do done first so that when we do get coffee we can relax!" Lafayette looked vaguely desperate, though it was an exaggerated sort of desperate that was obviously put on to invoke something in Alex.

"I don't..." Alex started, looking between the two boys, and Lafayette's gaze slowly became soft as he prepared to say something else to take the pressure off Alex, who spoke before he could do so, "Coffee sounds nice."

"A-ha!" John exclaimed, grinning widely at Alex, "I knew you had my back." And he couldn't help the small half-smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth,

Lafayette groaned and dramatically flopped against Hercules, who caught him with practiced ease, "Protect my honour, Herc! They're teaming up on me."

Hercules made a half-exasperated half-grateful face at Alex and John over Lafayette's shoulder, making his side of the play argument clear, "You _know_ we could all benefit from a little coffee, Laf, You're just being dramatic."

The Frenchman stood up straight at that and pouted, "I want a divorce." He said while pointing accusingly at Hercules, before grinning and sweeping his arm in a 'come along' gesture and walking towards the small coffee shop.

"He's always like that, by the way." John said to him as they walked a little behind Herc and Laf, and Alex turned to him, looking slightly surprised but hoping John would think he was surprised about Lafayette, instead of knowing that he was surprised about being spoke to.

"What, he's always that dramatic?" He decided to reply, a little quiet

John nodded, grinning sideways at him, "Yep. And annoying. Good luck living with him."

Alex let out a small huff of laughter that he hadn't been expecting, earning a soft smile from John that made him feel acutely weaker than normal.

  
When they made it to the small, homey coffee shop they sat on two sofas that were facing each other with a coffee table between them, Laf and Herc on one side and John and Alec on the other.

"I'll go up and order. John, Laf, you guys want your usual?" Hercules said as he stood up, pausing for John and Lafayette to nod and then turning to Alex, "Alright. What about you, Alex?"

Suddenly, all three of the Teenagers were looking at him and he barely got out a, "Americano, please. Black, two shots of espresso, one sugar.."

Hercules nodded and left.

"Do you always take your coffee black?" John asked curiously and Alex nodded mildly, "How often do you drink it?"

"I... usually just have a few cups in the morning." He paused and finished, "Anywhere between 2-5, usually. Enough to stay awake.." Earning a low whistle from Laf,

  
"That is a lot of caffeine for someone so small.."

"Just because you're lanky," John teased, slinging an arm sound Alex's shoulders and causing his face to heat up, "Doesn't mean you can discriminate against us vertically challenged people 'cause we're the minority here."

"You're the.." Laf said with a look like disbelief, shaking his head and obviously fighting a smile, the corners of his lips trembling, "I am literally the, how you say, immigrant here!"

" _Technically_ ," Alex pointed out, "So am I."

Both teens looked at him,

" _Double_ discrimination!" John said with laughter lacing his voice as he waved a finger at Lafayette, and then both of them acutely burst out laughing, Alex smiling as he tried valiantly not to join in.

"What did I miss?" Hercules said standing beside the table, holding all of their drinks on a tray, and when neither John or Lafayette stopped laughing, Alex looked up at Hercules and shrugged,

"Minorities." He deadpanned, making the topic of their discussion seem much more serious, which made Laf and John laugh even more as Hercules shook his head with a small fond smile as he sat down and handed everyone their drinks. Looking around, Alex saw that everyone's drinks had their names written on them. He had a simple 'Alex', John had 'Jon', Hercules had ' "HERCULES" ' in inverted commas as if they didn't believe his name was that, and Lafayette had 'lafiyet'. One look at his cup, and Lafayette immediately sobered up, looking at his misspelled name with narrowed eyes.

"That's..."

"Fucking brilliant." John finished, no longer laughing but instead grinning as he took out his phone to snap a picture of Lafayette's cup. Then he turned to look at his own cup and his grin grew, "Does anyone have a pen?"

"I do.." Alex said quietly, reaching into his jean's pocket and pulling out a black sharpie, blushing slightly when John smiled at him,

"Perfect, _Thank you_." John said as he scribbled a 'Snow' beside the 'Jon' and looked at it proudly before taking a picture,

"You know nothing, _Jon Snow._ " Laf said in a dark, low voice, playing up his French accent and causing everyone to laugh, even Alex. Though, his laugh was far more contained than the others and would be better described as a soft chuckle.

  
~~~*~~~

  
After they left the coffee shop, they went to the multiple stores that made Alex glad to have had coffee beforehand. Everytime Lafayette came at him with piles of whatever he wanted to buy for him, Alex would try to refuse and convince him that it was too much and he didn't need it, but Laf assured him it was fine and bought them anyway each time. Then, just when Alex hoped they were finally going to leave, Lafayette directed them into a phone store and once again elected to ignore Alex when he insisted he didn't need anything.

"R-really, Lafayette, I don't need anything else. You've already spent way too much money on me.."

"George and Martha's jobs provide them with 'more money than anyone needs', so you do not need to worry about that, Mon Ami. Plus, if we do not get everything on Martha's list, she will just come and get them herself.." Laf said with a smile as he made his way to the counter, holding a phone in his hands. Alex scrambled to walk beside him, leaving John and Herc to talk at the door,

"But--"

"No 'but's, Alexander.." The Frenchman said with a hint of teasing as he took the phone to the counter and Alex stopped in his tracks. The too-familiar words that Seabury often snapped at him hitting him unexpectedly hard. Even though Lafayette's voice held a warmth that was never present in his case worker's, the words still made his blood run cold. He immediately and instinctively shrunk away from Laf, hanging his head and slowly walking back to the door, the noises of the shop blurring together with the sound of someone talking as he retreated into himself, blocking out the world around him in the way he taught himself to early on in his time in America.

"Alex? You with us?" Were the first words to break through the barrier he was trying to build. It was John speaking, but it was near impossible to completely snap himself out of what he was doing, so he just nodded absently, "Good, Okay. Breathe a little for me, okay? _Respirar_ , Alex..."

After a few moments of just listening to John's voice, ((Hercules had said something, but then he seemed to disappear)) Alex blinked at him, earning a wide smile as everything slowly came back in to focus. Others voices, John's face smiling at him, how ridiculously cold he felt, "Welcome back, Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine. I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to... I-I.." Alex tried to stutter out an apology, feeling his face heat up

"It's alright, really, Alex. I'm just glad you're okay now. It wasn't your fault.." John said with a soft smile, and Alex stared at him for a moment before looking around. He had managed to stumble over to the bench just outside the phone store while he was 'out of it', and he was sitting on it with John kneeling in front of him, Laf and Hercules still visible inside the store. 

Then, he realised that he would have had to walk past John and Hercules to make it to this bench, and looked down, immediately ashamed again.

"Do you...I don't suppose you want to talk about what just happened? Or, Why, I mean?" John asked carefully, leaving unsaid the fact that he wasn't going to push Alex to say anything.

"I..I just.." Alex started, studying his hands with a sudden interest, "Memories, I suppose. Nothing...Nothing really.."

John nodded sadly, standing up straight, Alex following, "Herc went to distract Laf so I could be alone with you, since you didn't seem to react to him."

"I'm--"

"You don't need to be sorry, Really." John ensured, "Do you just want to go back inside? Lafayette already bought the phone but he's looking at phone cases so..." He made an exaggerated exasperated face and Alex almost smiled before he nodded and they went inside the store again, neither John or Hercules bringing up what happened at all as they made their way back to the Washington's house, which Alex was eternally grateful for. 

From that moment, Alex decided that maybe, just maybe, he had finally forged a friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AGAIN I AM SO SORRY THAT I TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE! I LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH FOR READING THIS FAR <3 <3


	8. Chapter 8

As they left the warmth of the shopping mall, Alex was hit in the face with a gust of ice cold wind that blew his almost-dry hair out of his face and caused him to pull his jacket closer around himself with a shiver. The cold weather in America was something that Alex had never got used to, even after three years of living with it. On the Island, the lowest the temperature ever dropped to was around sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and then the first winter he spent in New York introduced him to cold as he had never imagined it. When he had asked someone on the street what temperature it was on his way to collect something for his current foster father, he was informed that they were about to drop below zero and he should be inside.  
   
"Mon Ami," Lafayette started as he and the others dropped back to walk beside Alex, putting him beside Laf and Herc, with John on the other side of Herc, "Are you cold? You are shivering like a plant."  
   
Despite himself, Alex felt the corner of his mouth tip upwards at the slightly incorrect phrase which, judging by the small groan and laugh from them, John and Hercules also noticed, "I'm fine, I am just still not very well accustomed to the cold yet."  
   
"Of course, You briefly mentioned that you immigrated, though you have never mentioned where from. Was it very warm?" Laf said with an eager expression,  
   
Alex paused, wondering vaguely if Lafayette was trying to get more information out of him that he was letting on, before answering, "I doubt you have heard of where I am from, anyway, but it was very warm, yeah..."  
   
"My family came from Puerto Rico," John put in, and Alex turned his attention to him, "My _Abuela_ is constantly complaining about the cold."  
   
"She's right to..." Alex agreed softly, "The cold here is unjustifiable."  
   
John smiled sideways at him around Hercules, "If you don't mind saying, where--"  
   
"Nevis," Alex said quickly before he could finish, flinching at how rude that was to do before hesitantly continuing, "I-It's a really small island a couple hundred miles of the coast of Puerto Rico, in a forgotten spot in the Caribbean... It is not a place that many people know about."  
   
" _Nevis_..." Hercules said thoughtfully, raising a hand to rub down his face, "I've heard of that, or seen the name somewhere.."  
   
Alex tensed a little, silently wishing that Hercules wasn't going to bring up the hurricane, which he was sure was the only thing Nevis could possibly be known for.  
   
"The Caribbean seems like such a nice place, so many beautiful beaches." Lafayette mused, and Alex thought, not for the first time, that Lafayette might actually have a super human ability of telling when people are uncomfortable, "In France we have _old_ buildings."  
   
"Yeah, well in America we have an embarrassing amount of fast food restaurants." John pointed out, Hercules humming in agreement and adding,  
   
"And a _fuck ton_ of inequality."   
   
Everyone in the small group made their own noises of agreement at that, and they kept walking home.

  
~~~*~~~

  
When the boys had left, George had retreated to his office to try and make some calls regarding Alex's past. First, he called the agency that Alex's caseworker worked for, and didn't get as much information as he had quite hoped.

 

"NYS Adoption, _How can I help you_?" A bored sounding female answered the phone when he called, and George noted the laid back way she had not used the full name of the company.

   
"Hello, Ma'am, My Name is George Washington and I was hoping to inquire about a child that I recently fostered?" He had said politely, the sound of a keyboard being typed loud in the otherwise quiet background,  
   
"George...Washington.." The woman said absently, then hummed, "Yeah, Alexander Hamilton?"  
   
"That's him. His caseworker didn't really send us much information on him and I was hoping you could send his file to me over e-mail or--"  
   
"I'm Sorry, Mr Washington, Tell me if I heard you correctly." He was interrupted by the woman, "You agreed to foster this child without _any_ prior knowledge of him at all?"  
   
"That's right."  
   
"I assume you know Mr Seabury, his caseworker, personally then?"  
   
"I do.."  George said slowly, refusing to feel embarrassed about his decision. Seabury had called him and informed him of a teenager who was 'prone to violent outbursts' and unlikely to find another home. The man had almost begged George to take in the Teen, telling him that if he eventually proved to be too much then he would be sent to a group home. In fact, Seabury's exact words had been, _'Please, Washington. I can't send the boy to a group home yet, the high ups wont allow it, but if you could just take him in until he gets too much and then we can send him away..._ ' and George had, after a conversation with Martha, caved. Now, the memory of Samuel's words along with Him and Martha's suspicions about Alex's past made him feel vaguely ill as he wondered if Seabury had known what was happening to this poor boy.  
   
"Well, _okay_." The woman said simply, then paused before continuing, her voice more serious, "I'm sorry. We do have Alexander's file here, but it has been marked private and you would have to get permission from Mr Seabury if you want to see it."  
   
George swore under his breathe, rubbing a hand down his face and leaning against the desk with one hand, "Fine. Do you have the files in front of you?" He asked, forcing his voice into a steady calm tone.  
   
"I...I do, yes. _But, Sir_ \--"  
   
"No, I won't ask you to read them to me because I know you can't. But...can you just tell me how bad it is? Scale of one to ten?" He tried

The woman hesitated, her silence almost deafening, before she spoke in a low voice so not to be overheard, "Honestly? A nine, breaching on a ten. And that's just what's available to me. That Alexander Kid's been through some stuff.."  
   
" _Jesus_..." George muttered, "Thank you, anyway, Ma'am."  
   
"What I got this job for, Sir, was to help kids. Don't get the chance to actually do that very often." She said quietly, "If Seabury doesn't give you the file then call back and ask for Alicia, _okay_?"  
   
" _Okay_. Let's hope he will, thank you again."

 

And then George hung up, having learnt nothing except what he already knew; Alex's life hasn't been good to him.

 

The next call he attempted was to one Samuel Seabury, who, of course, did not answer. After three calls that had cut off after two rings, which meant that either Seabury was busy or he was purposely ignoring his calls. Then, on his fourth phone call, Seabury picked up.

 

"George! Are you calling about Alexander? I know the boy is no good but I would have thought _you'd_ last longer!" Seabury said as soon as he picked up, as if he hadn't just ignored three calls from George.  
   
"I am calling about him, yes, but not anything bad. He's actually _great_." A small sliver of defensiveness slipped into his tone as he replied to the other man,

 

"Oh?" Seabury sounded genuinely surprised, "Then why are you--"

 

"Seabury, I need Alex's file." George cut him off, jumping straight to the point

 

_Silence._  
   
"You...what?" The other man said with a small nervous chuckle, "Why...Why do you need that silly thing?"  
   
"I know _nothing_ about the boy. I want to know about his past."  
   
"He's a _Bastard-Orphan-immigrant_ with behaviour problems. What else do you need to know?" Seabury said incredulously, as if those words defined Alex. Needless to say, this didn't make George happy.  
   
"Everything else, Samuel." George said with a clenched jaw, voice scarily calm considering the anger slowly boiling inside him, "He is in my care now, and I want to know how to help him."  
   
"He doesn't _need_ any help!--"  
   
"Seabury, if you don't forward his file to my email box, I will find another way to get access to it."  
   
Another long pause took place, then Seabury sighed loudly, "No, no you won't. If Alex gets too much to handle, give me a call. Goodbye, Mr Washington."  
   
"Seabury!--" George started, but when he looked at the phone, the call had ended, " _Damn it!_ " He exclaimed, dropping the phone on his desk and running both hands down his face. When he turned around to face his door, about to leave and tell Martha about what had happened, only to find her standing in the doorway, a worried expression on her face.  
   
"Nothing?" She asked softly, her face falling further when he shook his head, and she echoed his previous use of the words, " _Damn it_."  
   
"I could get my people to look into it, they could definitely figure out a way to procure the documents.." George suggested as Martha leaned against the doorframe,   
   
"What if...What if he doesn't _want_ us to know about everything?" She said thoughtfully, "Maybe he will tell us when he is ready. We've only known him for two days.."  
   
"You're right. We could get the file and then ask him if he is alright with us reading it, and if he says no..."  
   
"We wait for him to feel comfortable enough to tell us himself." Martha finished, "That seems reasonable."

 

"But then, even if we respect his privacy, we still can't help him." George said, sitting down on his desk and pinching the bridge of his nose, "We still won't know anything about him. Jesus, Martha, We basically only know his name."

  
"You could always ask me." A small but strong voice interjected, and they both turned to see Alex standing behind Martha looking relatively scared and a little hurt, Lafayette standing on one side of him and John and Hercules on the other, "If...if it's bothering you that much.

"

"Alex, you don't have to--" George said standing up, and Alex shook his head lightly and fiddled with his fingers, glancing down as he walked past Martha into the office,

 

"There are things I...can't talk about right now. B-but I suppose you both deserve to know who I am, at least..." 

 

George looked at the Teen, seeing that the unnatural paleness of his face was accented by flushed cheeks, that he could only hope were from embarrassment or the cold, and dark bags under his eyes,

 

"Alexander, Mon Ami, If you do not feel comfortable..." Lafayette said softly, coming to stand closer to Alex, but still a few steps away, for support,

 

The smaller Teen shook his head, crossing his arms across his chest as his expression shifted, as if a mask had fallen over his face, a guarded air suddenly surrounding him, "I was born on the Eleventh of January, 2001, in a small town called Charlestown, on Nevis." He paused, his voice changing to match his blank expression as he looked up at George across the room, though he seemed to be looking through him as if he wasn't actually there, "I have no living family apart from my father, if he is still alive somewhere out there. I came to America three years ago and you are my forth placement." 

 

"Thank you, Alex, for sharing. I'm proud of you." George said softly, Martha following with a "Me too" as she walked over to Alex and put a hand on his shoulder, smiling. Lafayette, John and Hercules all made little agreeing sounds as Alex blinked and looked around at the other people on the words, looking more alert and slightly overwhelmed before he attempted a small smile and looked at George again, this time he was actually looking at him.

 

"You want my file." He stated, "But Seabury wont show you it."

 

"Why not?"

  
~~~*~~~

  
"Why not?" Lafayette enquired softly, and Alex leaned against the only bare bit of wall behind him as he lulled over the question.

 

The truth was he didn't know why his caseworker didn't let anyone see his file, except George King, of course, but Seabury was so far up that man's ass you could see his eyes when he opened his mouth. He knew that his file had to be adjusted after every home by someone other than his official caseworker, and Alex had always wondered what excuses had been used to stop whoever altered his file asking questions about his numerous injuries and hospital visits. He knew that Seabury was completely aware of what had happened in his previous homes, and had went to some length to hide this information from the rest of the company, so of course if anything remotely suspicious was on his file, he would never show it to a family that didn't seem to be as prone to child abuse as his other homes yet. However, if the Washingtons did end up doing anything, Alex knew that Seabury would cover it up in a heartbeat and make sure no charges were pressed. Just like in his first house, before he learnt that telling people did nothing but harm. 

 

"Alex?" A voice broke through his thoughts and he looked up.

 

_John._

 

John had taken a step into the room, looking mildly concerned with the _'are you okay?_ ' unspoken but clear in his eyes, so Alex shot him a (what he hoped was) reassuring nod and looked at Laf, "I don't know." He answered, "But he won't"

 

"Who is this Seamonster guy?" Hercules said, and George huffed out a laugh,

 

"Samuel Seabury, Hercules, and he is Alex's caseworker."

 

"I...I think Seamonster fits him pretty well.." Alex said quietly, not meeting anyone's eyes once again when he realised how rude of an opinion that was. Part of him was screaming at him to let his opinion out about the dickhead, but the other half was stuck in the memory of when he tried to do that with his second home and it did nothing but bad.

 

John chuckled at that, _"Sammy Seamonster?"_

 

"Sounds right, yes." Martha said, "George knew him a while ago. Seabury was one of those idiots who followed that man King around, wasn't he?" She asked, directing her question at George as if she was unsure. Alex's heart started to beat faster at the mere casual mention of King. He would have liked to entertain the thought of it maybe being another man called 'King', but who else would Seabury have followed around? They did always seem well acquainted with eachother...Seabury had called him an 'old friend'

 

"Yeah. George King." George sounded annoyed, face like thunder. Alex felt nervous being around him at that moment. "He was a big--"

 

" _I know_ , Dear. Not in front of the kids." Martha interrupted, 

 

"No, don't stop on our account." Laf said with a grin, his arm thrown casually around Alex's shoulder in what was probably supposed to be a comforting way. It was helping a little, but his head with still spinning with this new information that George Washington knew George King. He was, without a doubt, terrified. Leaving King's house should have been a relief, but the way it had happened was offsetting. One day, King was being his usual self, throwing Alex around and treating him like a punching bag, then the next he had fired three members of his staff and was calling Seabury to inform him theatrically that he needed to come and take Alex, even though his caseworker had been there a few days ago. As Alex walked out of the front door, King had pulled him back by the arm and whispered in his ear,  " _You'll be back. Remember, Alexander: You belong to me."_ Before shoving Alex out and slamming the door. Now, if George King knew George Washington, then he probably knew where he lived. And if he knew where he lived then it would only be a matter of time before he found him again.

 

_You belong to me..._

 

Alex shuddered as his breath caught in his throat, panic rushing into every part of his body and black seeping into his vision, making him dizzy. No, not here. Not in front of everyone. Sounds melded together and he was vaguely aware of two voices having a conversation, though they sounded far away and muffled. His own heartbeat sounded loudly in his ears as the panic made it's way up his throat and blocked in.  He felt trapped.

 

_No._

 

_In, Un Deux Trois. Out, Un Deux Trois_  
_In, Un Deux Trois. Out, Un Deux Trois_  
_In, Un Deux Trois. Out, Un Deux Trois_

 

Even the self coaching wasn't doing anything to help, so he removed himself from under Lafayette's arm and didn't bother trying to hear anyone as he avoided everyones eyes and tried to mumble out a barely intelligible apology before rushing out of the room, hitting into something on his way out but not stopping. His vision was blurring and the back of his throat felt clogged and on fire as he pried open the door to his bedroom and closed it behind him, allowing himself to attempt open-mouth gasps for air as he stumbled into the en-suite, locked the door and turned on the tap, looking at his reflection as he splashed water on his face, bracing himself against the sink. Before stumbling back and sliding down the wall, hugging his knees to his chest as memories took him over.

  
The first time King had showed any violence towards him was on his ninth day at the house.

 

 

_"Alexander!" King shouted in his odd regal sounding tone, and Alex left his room to quickly make his way down the large, grand staircase. After his last two homes, Alex was definitely hesitant when it came to trusting anyone, and George King was not an exception. His guard was constantly up around the oddly cheery man who carried himself in a way that made everyone feel uneasy, but so far he had not done anything except be creepily cheery._

 

_"Ah, Alexander. Come here." King said as Alex entered the living room to see him sitting in his large, extravagant arm chair, his legs crossed and his gold sceptre-like walking stick held in one hand. His chin was raised slightly and his mouth was pulled  into a thin smile. Alex slowly took a few steps closer,_

 

_"Yes?" He asked quietly, polite only out of left-over fear, but short and snappy our of habit_  
  
_"Closer, Alexander. You've been distant. I don't like it. Come here and let me see you up close.." The man's tone was sharper, so Alex obliged and moved closer until he was just in front of George, " You are so small, Alexander. Is that because of the fact you are an immigrant? Or did your mother carry a defected gene?"_

 

_Alex furrowed his eyebrow, defensively responding "I don't think I--"_

 

_King stood up so he was taller than Alex and reached a hand to push back the hair that had fallen out of the smaller male's ponytail, "Don't interrupt me. It was Rhetorical." He snapped, and Alex flinched, before the man's tone went back to its normal, scarily cheery tone, "You look delicate, too. But you and I know better than that, don't we? Rhetorical!" He grabbed Alex's chin and held it with a hard grip as he studied him, ignoring the small pained gasp that the Teen let out as he moved his head around._

 

_"What are you--"_

 

_"Samuel told me you got into a fight with your first foster brother."_

 

_"He was insulting my mother I-I.."_

 

_"He said you won." George interrupted, letting go of Alex's chin and instead grabbing his hand, studying the bruised knuckles with narrowed eyes,_

 

_"I did...?" Alex wasn't sure what the right answer was. What the safest answer was._

 

_"You're still scrappy. I can see it in your eyes." The man said cheerily, then grabbed Alex's chin again, this time harder, his voice going dark as his hand slowly slid to hold Alex's neck, not hard enough to cut off air but hard enough to hurt, "I want you more...Compliant."_

 

_"M-Mr King, I--"  Alex said reaching up to put a hand on George's wrist, trying to get him to let go, but King used his other hand to grip Alex's and rip it away,_

 

_"Sir, Alexander, You will call me Sir. Or, when it's a good day, King." He said, his voice still upbeat as he tightened his grip on the smaller boy's neck,_

 

_"Ge- ...Mr K-...Sir.." Alex gasped out, "S-Sir, please. I-I can't..."_

 

_"Breathe?" George Laughed, eyes dancing with insanity, "Do you want to breathe?"_

 

_"Y-Yes.." He choked out, other hand weakly coming up to try and remove the hand from his neck, "Please..!"_

 

_"Yes....?" King drawled, tightening his grip and grinning,_

 

_"S-Sir, Please. I-I.."_

 

_The man let go and Alex slumped to ground, holding his aching throat and greedily gasping in air. George kneeled down and set a finger under Alex's chin gently, raising it so Alex's panicked eyes met his,_

 

_"My sweet, submissive Alexander..."_

 

 

Alex opened his eyes with a gasp as the last tendrils of his memory lost their grip on him and fell away, leaving him with the realisation that that was all that was. A memory. Knowing this enabled him to calm himself just enough to get control of his senses again. First, he noticed that he was still sitting on the floor against the cool bathroom wall, his legs drawn tightly to his chest. Then, he realised that his face was still wet with either the water that he splashed in his face, or tears that he had shed at some point. Lastly, he heard the soft, persistent knocking on the bathroom door.

 

"Alexander? _Please_ , Mon Ami, Are you okay?" Lafayette's worried sounding voice drifted through the wood, "Are you alright in there?"

 

"I-I'm fine." Alex croaked out, his voice low, quiet and rough, "I'm.. I'm sorry I..."

 

"No, No it's okay, _Mon petit Lion_." The French teen said, sounding vaguely relieved but still concerned, "May I...Alexander, Can I come in?"

 

Alex attempted to stand up, only to find his legs couldn't support his weight as he slid back down the wall, shame and embarrassment causing heat to rise in his face, "I-I can't get to the door to unlock it..." He whispered.

 

"I can pick it, If you are okay with me coming in?" Laf said, and Alex wondered how he would do that. Unless-- Did he use bobby pins in his hair?

 

"Please..." He whispered in way of permission, because he did want to see him. A second later, there were a series of clicks as something-- the pin, was shoved into the lock and moved around. Then, the door was pushed open to reveal Lafayette, who was smiling sadly at Alex as he murmured something under his breath and walked over to him, sitting down beside him and sliding an arm around the smaller boy, who allowed himself to be pulled close and curled up against Laf, his eyes fluttering shut as the Frenchman started to hum softly, carding his fingers through Alex's hair.

 

"I-I'm _sorry_.." Alex murmured as he felt himself drift of, repeating the phrase in sleepy French, " _Je suis vraiment désolé_..."

 

"It is okay, _Petit Lion_. Shh...Sleep now." Lafayette murmured, then continued to hum to Alex as he drifted off. Before he he fell asleep, however, he thought he felt Lafayette lift him up, but he couldn't be completely sure, because he was already lost to sleep, the world dropping away from around him. 

And he felt _safe_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about how long it took me to update this but i've been writing on and off for days :( AO3 kept refreshing whilst I was in the middle of a chapter, causing everything I had previously wrote to disappear. Needless to say, the original version of this chapter was at least 1/3 longer than this one, but I gave up xD
> 
> buT ANYWAY THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING THIS FAR ILY ALL SO MUCH MWAAAAAAH <3 <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly? I'm not sure how to summarise this. It's a lot. There are some insults in a flashback that you should look out for, though :)) Cheers!

"No, don't stop on our account!" Lafayette said with a wide grin as he slung an arm around an absent, fearful looking Alex. John had noticed that as soon as George started talking about Seabury and his friend George King, Alex had went quiet again and his eyes were clouded over in a way that showed how lost in his own thoughts he must have been. Over the day, Alex had peeked out of his shell in a way, providing short opinions here are there-- And one long opinion which was constructed in a way that made John think he could easily be in a college English class, but he cut himself off before he finished that particular argument, looking embarrassed and turning his face towards the ground like he had been doing throughout the day when he seemed to get excited. The whole thing made John even more worried and curious about the Teen.

 

"I have nothing to say about that man." George decided, an undertone of unmasked hate in his voice, "Except that he is one of the-- if not the most god awful, disgusting people that I've ever had the displeasure of meeting." And Martha nodded her agreement, John's curiosity slipping onto another topic momentarily: _Who the hell is George King?_

 

So, deciding to act on his curiosity, he asked. "Who even is he?" _And why does Alex seem to know who he is?_

 

"Just a terrible man that occasionally tries to get involved in politics, Dear." Martha informed him, "He has always had group of people who bend to his every will, and Seabury's been known to be one of those people.."

 

"You know, I don't think I like this...Seamonster person." Lafayette said, and John knew that the whole room agreed with him.

 

"Same, Laf.." Hercules said, still leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed loosely over his chest in a way that others that didn't know him would assume was tension, but was actually just a way to occupy the larger teen's arms.

 

"I have to agree with you, boys.." George said with a chuckle, cutting off with a sharp turn of his head when Alex spoke,

 

"I-I need to..go.." Alex mumbled as he removed himself from under Lafayette's arm, his expression the same as it had been in the phone store earlier that day, "S-sorry.." 

 

"Alex, Honey..." Martha said softly to him, but he was already making his way out of the room swiftly, bumping lightly into Hercules before rushing up the stairs.

 

For a moment, everyone was silent, looking towards the doorway, everyone donning similar expressions of worry and confusion. Then everyone snapped back to reality at the same time.

 

" _Merde_..." Lafayette whispered, Hercules coming over to him to slip an arm around his waist comfortingly, "Maybe--"

 

"Maybe I should go up..." George muttered, taking steps towards the door, but Martha rested a hand on his arm to hold him back,

 

"Honey, I don't think that's the best idea..." She said softly, continuing only when George turned to look at her, seeming 

confused, "George, _Dear_ , you make him nervous. Especially when he's like this..."

 

"I..." The man started sadly, but Lafayette cleared his throat,

 

"Maman, may I?" The French teen asked, "I want to go up and see if he is alright."

 

"Gil..." Martha started, blowing out a breath, then nodded, hands on her hips, "Alright... Alright, I think that's a good idea. Make sure--"

 

"Yes, I know. I will not freak him out, Maman.." He promised, smiling shakily at Hercules before slipping away from his arm, nodding at John in a way that was clearly seen as 'Don't worry. I got this.' before leaving the room. John often joked that Lafayette sometimes acted as if he had adopted John, due to his naturally protective nature and sometimes overwhelming tendency to worry, but it was moments like this where he was reminded just how much he appreciated the subtle things Laf did that he knew helped settle not only his nerves, but Hercules' too. The fake confidence that was put on to assure them everything would be okay. The smile he forced to make sure they didn't worry too much about him while he worried about someone else. Then there were the looks. He had always had this way of communicating whatever he needed to say with subtle, reassuring looks. Just these small glints to his eye or quirks of his mouth or even a little eyebrow twitch here and there could easily make John feel better about whatever was happening.

 

Suddenly, there was an arm around his shoulders and Hercules was giving him one of his own reassuring smiles, pulling him against his side in a comforting manner and reminding him just how much he'd came to love his friends. They were like brothers to him-- no, scratch that. They weren't _'like '_   brothers to him, they _were_ brothers. They were more his family than any of his family had ever been, and he had no idea what his life would be like right now if he had never met them.

 

"I'll check on them soon, I think I should give Laf some time to calm him.." Martha said, finally breaking the silence that had fallen over the room.

 

George nodded, "What do you think upset him?" He said in a low voice, speaking to his wife as if he had momentarily forgot the other two boys were also still in the room.

 

"He clammed up a little when you started speaking about Seamonster, but it was the other guy's name that made him seem more uncomfortable." John answered for her when she shrugged, realising that maybe he was the only one studying Alex so thoroughly at the time, "Does he know him? That guy? _King_?"

 

Pressing her lips together, Martha looked up and George, and George looked down at her, a moment of silent communication passing between them before George nodded, "I'll make some calls." He said, picking up his phone immediately. Martha gestured with her hands for the two boys to leave the room and then followed them out when they did,

 

"Did you all remember to eat while you were out?" She asked, leading them into the kitchen.

 

"We had some McDonalds." Hercules said, "Laf ate like...twice his bodyweight in chicken nuggets, John and I both had the Big Mac meals and Alex--"

 

"Alex said he didn't want anything, but Laf said he hadn't ate so we got him a Quarter pounder meal." John finished, remembering how Alex had seem so concerned about how much money they ended up spending on his essentials, but initially perked up a little when they first entered the fast food place, probably because of the smell, before seeming to shrink back into himself, one hand resting lightly over his stomach. In hindsight, he did actually look like he felt sick, but that didn't mean he didn't need to eat.

 

"Thank you, boys.." Martha said gratefully, leaning against the counter, 

 

"It was our pleasure, Mrs Washington." Hercules said honestly, then shrugged and simply finished, "I like Alex."

 

"Me too." John piped in, "You should have seen him at times when we were out. There were these moments where his exterior wall thing kinda broke and the person I think he really is came through and he seems... smart. Like, _ridiculously_ smart."

 

"Yeah, he does." Hercules agreed, enthusiastically continuing,  "There was this moment while we were in Mcdonald's where we were all talking about all the shit-- sorry, Mrs Washington-- that's happening right now and he started talking and it was so obvious he knew what he was saying. Like, he had all these facts and opinions and he was phrasing his argument really well and then he just sorta...stopped. In the middle of saying something about the second world war. Like he only just realised he had been talking at all."

 

"I could tell he was smart. " Martha said fondly, a smile etched onto her face, "It's in his eyes. They're intelligent."

 

"Martha?" John said, mostly to get the woman's attention, before continuing a little quieter, "How do you think Alex knows King?"

 

"I don't know, John..." She replied softly, "But I hope to find out soon."

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

Lafayette felt the tension slowly drain out of Alex as the smaller teen's breathing slowed and he finally seemed to drift off to sleep. He waited for a moment before slipping one arm under Alex's knees and his other behind his back, half kneeling before standing up. At first, he was taken by surprise at how light and easy to lift Alex seemed to be. Yes, he knew that due to his small stature and thin frame he wouldn't be too hard to lift, but he hadn't expected him to be this easy to carry bridal style. Laf carefully walked through the bathroom door into Alex's bedroom, originally planning on tucking the Teenager in and then letting him sleep in peace, before remembering overhearing Martha and George talking about the two nightmares that he had had already and instead deciding to sit down carefully on the bed and set Alex down beside him, letting him curl up with his head resting against the side of Lafayette's chest before pulling the blankets over them both and gently fiddling with a few pieces of the Teen's hair.

 

Lafayette couldn't help but wonder how he had already got so attached the the small boy currently sleeping on him. It had been barely two days since he walked through the doors of the Washington's home and he had already effortlessly and unknowingly wormed his way so far into Laf's heart that he doubted anyone could pry him away from him now. There was something about him that made Lafayette want to bundle him up in a blanket and keep him hidden from all negativity that the modern world has to offer. There was something about his intelligent eyes and sad smiles that made Lafayette want to hug him tightly, then find everyone who had ever caused him hurt and end them.

 

Swiftly backing around from the thought train of murder, Laf decided to study Alex's face. He always likes to marvel at how relaxed people look when they sleep, ( _"Of course they look relaxed," The memory of John's voice rang in his head, "When we sleep, all our muscles relax. It just happens."_ ) and Alex was no exception. The habitual twist of apprehension that Laf had got used to was gone from the Teenager's face and he looked softer and more vulnerable. The next thing that caught his eye was his neck. Or rather, the bruises on his neck. John was right, they were roughly shaped like hands and there was also a small scar on the side visible to him. He had to look away when he saw that the scar was in a shake similar to either a faded 'K' or a weird 'Y', which made his mind just to the fact that it could have been made with a ring?  Like a...a brand.

 

_Anger._

 

Lafayette felt a distinct sense of anger at seeing that scar. If it was made by a ring, a lot of force would have been needed to cause such a scar. Before he realised what he was doing, he started braiding one side of Alex's hair. It was a way to relieve any negative emotions that he often used John's hair for. Laf remembers multiple occasions where John has stumbled into his room early in the morning after staying the night with multiple braids in his hair that the Frenchman had snuck into his room at 3am after a nightmare to do. Of course, John was always understanding about it, slipping into bed beside Laf without a word and murmuring that everything was okay until they both drifted off to sleep. God, what would he do without his friends?

 

The door creaked suddenly as it opened and Lafayette's first instinct was to hiss-whisper, "Shh, **Quiet**!" In French, realising too late that it was actually French, but deciding that the words couldn't be that different and not correcting himself. Martha's head poked round the door and her eyes turned fond at the sight of the two Teenager's in front of her.

 

"Did you knock him out to braid his hair?" She teased in a whisper, walking quietly over to them. 

 

"No, Maman.." Lafayette answered with a small smile, taking a moment to marvel at the concept of whispering. No one is ever taught when to whisper, everyone just... _knows_. It's a beautiful thing.

 

"How was he?" Martha asked then, more serious now.

 

"Not very good. He locked himself in the bathroom, and said he couldn't get to the door to let me in so i asked him if i could pick the lock and he said yes, _so i did_ and--"

 

"Hold on, when did you learn how to pick locks?" Martha interrupted, looking confused with slightly narrowed eyes,

 

"Television, Maman. Anyway, I went in and he was sitting on the ground so i sat beside him and then he fell asleep so i carried him in here- He's too easy to lift, by the way, we need to feed him a _lot_ more, and then i sat down with him on the bed."

 

Martha nodded, looking at Lafayette with an odd fond look, "You're already such a great brother, Gil." She whispered softly, "And of course, we'll get foods with more Carbs and Protein."

 

"Thank you.." Laf said in regards to her first statement, warmth blooming in his chest, " _Oh!_ Also, Can you check his health? His breathing sounds weird.."

 

As soon as he said this, Martha seemed to half slip into nurse-mode, walking closer and leaning down to listen to his breathing, placing an ear against his chest next and then resting the back of her hand on his forehead. Occasionally, Lafayette forgets that Martha is a qualified doctor that has actually worked in the army, but moments like this remind him.

 

"He's a little warm, his breathing sounds kind of wet, and his pulse..." She reached out to place two fingers on his pulse point, pausing when she realised what a clear view she had of the bruises on his neck, before finally placing her fingers on his neck, "Mostly steady, maybe a _little_ irregular. It's probably just a cold, or the flu, Alex should be okay.."

 

"Alright, good." Laf said, then, noticing her gaze was still on Alex's neck, continued, "What do you think the letter is?"

 

"I am...not sure." Her voice was the odd calm it got when she was upset or angry, "A 'K'? A 'Y', maybe?"

 

"That is what i thought. Will that help identify who did this?"

 

"If we can find his previous placements, then probably." She rubbed a hand down one side of her face, muttering, " _Jesus_..."

 

"I know, Maman, But he'll be okay now, right?"

 

"Of course, Gil. We'll make sure of that."

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

At first when Alex woke up, he was welcomed with an odd warm feeling and a sense of comfort. This lasted roughly thirty seconds before an overwhelming sense of nausea rushed through him and his eyes flew open. He needed to get to a bathroom. However, when he opened his eyes he realised that Lafayette must have taken him to bed, and still had one of his arms over his shoulder. So Alex had to very carefully worm his way out from under the arm and then quickly flee to the bathroom, shutting the door silently so Laf didn't wake up and then barely making it before he emptied the contents of his stomach unceremoniously into the toilet bowl. He was good at vomiting quietly, just by keeping his head low to minimalize the sound of splashing. After he had expelled everything in his stomach and then spent a few moments pitifully dry heaving, he stood up on shaky legs and stumbled to the sink, washing out his mouth with water and then mouthwash. When he raised his head from doing so, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and was momentarily very confused. His hair had been loosely braided on both sides, though one side was significantly messier than the other. He huffed out a laugh. _Lafayette._

 

When he got out of the bathroom, Alex paused to look at Lafayette, who was still asleep, and then picked up his phone to check the time. 5:30am. Did Lafayette miss dinner because of him? Eyes darting around the room, Alex saw that a plate of sandwiches had been placed on his bedside table and couldn't help but smile a little. Even if he wasn't planning on eating, the thought was nice.

 

Realising he wasn't going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon, Alex decided to sit down on the floor beside his backpack and take out his notebook, skimming through to an empty page and then taking out a pen. It had been so long since he had the chance to write anything and he was almost buzzing with pent up thoughts just waiting to be wrote down. So he wrote.

 

 

When he was almost finished his fourth page, a sleepy, heavily accented voice broke his attention away from his writing,

 

" _Alexander_?" He looked up from where he sat crossed legged on the floor to see Lafayette standing beside the bed, blinking sleepily at him, "What are you doing?"

 

"Hey, Laf..." Alex said with a small smile, a feeling close to embarrassment colouring his face pink, "I'm just writing..."

 

"Writing what?" The Frenchman asked, sitting down across from Alex.

 

"Nothing really. Just...stuff.." He answered with a small shrug. He had started off writing in a journal-like kind of way which mostly consisted of metaphors and then somehow fizzled off into something that resembled an essay on the foster system.

 

"Do you like to write, _Petit Lion_?" Laf questioned, eyeing the worn looking notebook,

 

"Yeah, I do. Always have. My..." He cleared his throat slightly. He didn't want to bring up his Mother now, that would lead to more questions, "I've been told I have a way with words."

 

"Oui, Alexander, I saw that yesterday. I have a feeling you will be very good in Debate class when you come to school."

 

Alex couldn't help but smile a little at that. Debate and PolSci have always been his favourite subjects, English following closely behind. No matter what was happening, he could always control what he did at school. Well, usually. King had had him homeschooled most of the time for...disciplinary reasons. Now, he was going to get back into school. He couldn't wait. The thought of going back to a school felt like he was slipping further out of the hold King had on him.

 

"I hope. Martha left sandwiches on the bedside table.." Alex said, smoothly changing the topic. When Lafayette jumped up to his feet he realised that despite the throbbing headache, slight throat pain, and lingering nausea, today felt like a good day. He felt...more like himself. It was unexplainable. Last night had been terrible, that morning had been terrible...Was it the writing that helped calm him down to this state?

 

"Alexander, It's only eight in the morning, so Maman will be up in half an hour and she will definitely make you eat breakfast, but would you like any sandwiches?"

 

" _What he means_..." Came a voice from the doorway, and they both turned to see Hercules standing in the doorway, donning blue pajama bottoms and a white shirt, "Is that if you eat a few sandwiches, Mrs Washington might go easier on you."

 

" _Lapin_ , I assumed you and John would stay the night, but I was not expecting either of you to wake up for a while yet!" Lafayette exclaimed, walking forward to Herc and tilting his head to press a soft kiss to his lips casually before walking back to the sandwiches,

 

Hercules chuckled, eyes darting to Alex for a moment, looking slightly anxious as he spoke, "Yeah, i just woke up a few hours ago and couldn't get back to sleep. It was _weird._ I just...felt like i was meant to be doing something."

Alex tilted his head slightly, ignoring any comments about the sandwiches or sleep schedules in favour of freezing Herc's expression in his head and trying to figure out what it meant,

 

"Hercules?" Alex asked softly as he slowly stood up, "Are you worried that I...  Do you really think _i_ am...?" He trailed off, the last word obvious.

 

"No! Well, i mean... I may have worried for a moment _, yeah_.." Herc admitted, scratching the back of his neck with a sheepish smile,

 

"Worried about what?" Laf asked with a furrowed brow, holding a ham sandwich in one hand,

 

"He was worried i might be homophobic. Which i am not, don't worry, that would be ridiculous _and_ hypocritical."

 

"Hypocritical?" Herc asked with a raised eyebrow, and Alex winced inwardly, good mood slowly dripping away when he realised that he might have fucked up. Obviously his sexuality wouldn't matter to Herc or Laf, since they were together and both male, but previous experiences still made it difficult for him to even think about his sexual orientation, memories of his first foster father calling him a 'slut' for being bisexual, his second calling him the same thing, with more of an explanation. His exact words had been, _'Disgusting, greedy whore. Can't choose one, huh? Disgraceful. I hope you enjoy rotting in hell. How do you live with yourself?_ ' Followed by a slap and a few kicks.

 

"Nice." Laf said, grinning at Herc and taking a bite of his sandwich, speaking with his mouth full, "See? He fits in perfectly with the rest of us. Mon Lion," His gaze turned to Alex, who blinked confused, the memory he had been recalling still trying to grab attention of his thoughts, "Eat a sandwich." He said holding out the plate. When did he pick _that_ up?

  
Gingerly, he lifted one of the sandwiches, bending over to put his notebook in his bag and then turning and seeing both Herc and Laf staring at him expectantly,

 

" _Down_ , Boys." John's amused voice came from where he was leaning against the doorframe. He was wearing sweatpants and a purple shirt that had a unicorn on it and the words 'Go To Hell' printed under the unicorn, " _Jesus_. You look like parents waiting for their kid to give them their report card or some shit. I couldn't eat with you looking at me like that."

 

Alex huffed out a laugh a took a bite of the sandwich, raising his eyebrows and making an exaggerated _'Like this?_ ' face which drew a collective chuckle from the group,

 

"Yeah, okay. We get it. We're parenting again." Hercules said, taking a sandwich from the plate Lafayette was holding.

 

"A little." John said, then turned to smile at Alex, "Mornin', Alex."

 

"Good morning." Alex replied after swallowing his third bite of sandwich,

 

"Morning' Laf." Hercules said after he and Laf exchanged a look,

 

"Good morning, Herc." Laf replied with a grin, then shoved a whole sandwich in his mouth at once,

 

"Holy fucking shit, Laf!" John said between laughs, everyone watching as Lafayette succeeded in chewing and swallowing without choking,

 

There was a brief pause, then Alex started to slow clap, John and Herc following suit as Lafayette bowed dramatically.

 

" _Boys_ ," They all stopped abruptly and turned to see George standing by the door, wearing navy khakis and a white shirt, tying his tie, "I'm surprised any of you are even up."

 

"Morning, G-Wash, your son is a French garbage disposal." John said cheerily,

 

"Good Morning, John. That he is." George said with a smile, looking round at everyone, "Good Morning, Gil, What did you do to earn this title?"

 

"Ate a sandwich." Laf replied simply,

 

_"Devoured."_ Herc corrected, "Or inhaled, actually. Morning, George."

 

"Inhaled seems right. Good Morning, Hercules." George nodded at Herc, then turned to Alex, "Good Morning, Alex."

 

He knew he was expected to reply, but he didn't know what to reply with, which was stupid because the reply was obviously 'Good morning,' but what was he supposed to call him? Because today was a good day part of him was saying, Hey, everyone else calls him George, so you can too! But then the other part of him that usually dominates his decisions was screaming at him that Sir was the _only appropriate response_. But whenever he called George 'Sir', he looked a little sad. He was conflicted. He needed to figure out what he was going to say quickly or he would end up saying something like a mix of the two and that would be too embarrassing for him to come back from. Shit, how long had he been silent? Milliseconds? Seconds? Moments? _Minutes_?! Fuck, okay, just...say George. Or Mr Washington. Try it out. What's the worst that could happen?

 

"Morning, Mr Washington..."

 

_Nailed it._

 

George smiled at him, then addressed the group, "Martha is downstairs making bacon and pancakes, so I recommend going down pretty soon and not letting Laf get down there first. See you all in a minute." And then he was gone, John and Lafayette sharing a look before they both took off in a sprint out of the room and down the stairs. Alex, on the other hand, was beginning to feel mildly sick at the idea of more food.

 

"Coming, man?" Hercules said with a smile, walking out of the room and then pausing to wait for Alex,

 

"Sure."

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

They all sat down at the dining table and Martha put plates stacked with delicious smelling bacon and pancakes in the middle, sitting back as she watched everyone grab their own food. Alex waited until there was less chaos to reach forward and lift a few pieces of bacon and two pancakes.

 

"Does anyone want coffee?" George asked as he opened the cupboard full of mugs,

 

"Me! Milk and four sugars, S'il vous plait." Laf said first,

 

"Me too, please, G-Wash, Milk and one sugar." John said next,

 

"Can i have a tea, please?" Hercules said at the same time as Martha and then they smiled at each other,

 

"Uh, Can i have a cup of coffee, please?" Alex said last, a little hesitant, "Black, two sugars?"

 

"Coming right up." George said, taking down copious amounts of mugs and preparing all the beverages, "You always take your coffee black, Alex?" He asked without turning around,

 

"Yes, Sir." Oh, shit. _Damnit_. Well, there goes the whole breaking away from King-enforced habits.

 

"Ever tried it with milk?"

 

"I have, but i prefer it without."

 

"I still don't know how his tiny body handles the caffeine." Lafayette said absently, and John raised his hand to his mouth and coughed. The cough sounding oddly like 'Discrimination'.

 

"No, Wait... _Double_ discrimination." John corrected himself immediately after, not hiding the words in a cough this time and grinning at Alex. Alex couldn't help but smile back.

 

Laf groaned and Hercules looked between the teenagers, "Am i missing something?"

 

"Minorities." Alex deadpan answered again, just like earlier, and John and Lafayette broke out laughing, forks paused at different distances from their mouths. Realisation dawned over Hercules' face and he smiled,

 

"So, are we gonna talk about minorities every time we get coffee or..?" He said, and Alex chuckled, accidently catching Martha's gaze and practically froze. The sheer warmth in her eyes was staggering. Luckily, that moment was ended when George starting putting down cups of tea and coffee. Alex took his with a gracious 'thank you' and almost immediately taking a large drink, savouring the burning sensation that slithered down his throat.

 

"Easy there, Tiger." John mumbled to him, smiling, "I like the hair, by the way. Lafayette, right?" He guessed and Alex nodded,

 

"While i was asleep." He confirmed, Cutting up his second pancake reluctantly and feeling full already after eating three pieces of bacon and one large pancake.

 

"He does that. Usually to me, actually. If i stay over, he has a habit of coming to my room _just_ to braid my hair and then he goes back to his bed. When he's stressed he needs something to do with his hands, i think."

Alex's stomach dropped to his feet. Of course he stressed Laf out. Why didn't he think of that? God, that was selfish of him.

 

"Or worried. Or scared. Usually it's a nightmare or a night-before-big-test thing." John finished and Alex's heart fell down to sit with his stomach. He worried him too? Was it the sleeping thing? or the not-standing thing? or the running thing? or..

He thought back and realised the way he was lying on Laf would have exposed the more obvious of his neck bruises to the French Teen, as well as the scar that George King's ring had left that time he held Alex down and pressed the 'K' against his neck until blood had ran from underneath it, simply stating, _'You belong to me.'_ Which, Alex had quickly realised, seemed to be a tagline of his.

 

"Alex?" John said with worry and a little confusion and Alex realised he had forgotten to speak again.

 

"Yeah..." He said quietly, not sure what he was saying yes to as he set his knife and fork down and picked up his coffee with both hands, filled with the sudden urge to viciously yank his hair free of the braids just so he could feel less exposed because, even with the many strands of hair that had already came loose and were hanging in front of his face, he was more exposed that usual. He wanted to run, but he stayed in place, sipping the coffee. There was no way he was going to ruin another meal because he's a little messed up in the head.

 

"Alex, sweetie.." He looked up when Martha started to speak to him, "Do you have any idea when you'd be comfortable with starting school again?" _Ding_ , light switch flicked on in his brain. He's really listening now, sitting up straighter, "We don't want to send you too soon, but--"

 

"As soon as possible." Alex cut her off, not even having time to realise that he shouldn't have done that before he continued, "I would like to go to school as soon as possible. Please."

 

Martha smiled at him, "Alright, Honey, We'll sort that out then..." She said with a look at George who nodded.

 

"Damn, Ham, never seen someone so excited about going to school." Hercules said with a low whistle and Alex shrugged, taking a sip of coffee,

 

"I enjoy the education part. Though, i'm not the most fond of teachers." He admitted, the coffee settling into hiss bloodstream and mixing with the natural high he was feeling was letting him speak more freely than usual. Maybe this is why George King never wanted him to drink coffee.

 

"Why not?" John asked, shoving the rest of his pancake in his mouth,

 

"I don't know, i guess i don't like being talked to like i'm stupid... I'm not stupid." He finished a little defensively, staring into his coffee, the memory of each person who had assumed he was stupid flying through his head. All the voices that made him just want to push himself harder. Learn more.

 

"Yeah, 'course you aren't." John said, mouth full of pancake,

 

"Obviously not." Laf snorted, "I've known you few days and even _i_ know that."

 

Alex quirked a small smile.

 

"Oh! I almost forgot, guess who i saw back in school yesterday?" Herc said, leaning his elbows on the table. Even George and Martha were curious as to who it was.

"Thomas- _Freaking_ -Jefferson." He finished and both Laf and John groaned, sagging back in their chairs,

 

"Merde, I was hoping that ignorant swine would stay in France." Laf said, sounding agitated, "That's how much i hate him. I would rather have him pollute my homeland than be near me."

 

"Who is he?" Alex asked, very curious as to who was bad enough that even Laf hated them,

 

"An asshole- Sorry, Mrs Washington, but it's true." Hercules stated,

 

John hummed, "What he said. Biggest one of...of what he said out there. Spends debate classes making mildly racist and homophobic comments that are vague enough for him to get away with and then outside of the classroom he amplifies his douchiness to one million and becomes the worst person ever."

 

"He also wears really obnoxious clothes." Hercules added, "And he talks so much shit-- Sorry again, Mrs Washington, but he does, to Laf and then goes to France for a few weeks every year and talks about how he loves the French so much."

 

"And...and...Ugh."  Laf said simply, "I have never despised a human being as much as i do Thomas Jefferson."

 

"Agreed." John and Hercules said in sync

 

"I see." Alex said with his head tilted back slightly, eyes a little narrowed. He secretly hoped this guy was in his debate class. He'd like to vocally destroy him.

 

"Is this the boy who--" Martha started, but before she could finish, Laf, Herc, and John all said 'Yes.' in sync. "I didn't even finish my question!"

 

"Maman, you were going to ask if Jefferson is the boy who put mouldy baguettes in my locker every day for a year, and he is, yes." Lafayette said, sipping on his coffee

 

"Jesus." George said, "That kid is a piece of...work."

 

"A real piece of... _work_." John agreed, grinning,

 

"And he does debate?" Alex asked, holding his coffee mug in both hands

 

"Unfortunately." Hercules said with a nod.

 

Alex paused, before the ghost of a smirk tugged the corner of his lips, "Good." He said finally, then finished his coffee in one more drink.

 

"Good?" George asked, sounding confused, and Alex shrugged slightly, averting his eyes from anyone else's

 

"I like debate, I don't like him. Sounds like a _party_."

 

"...Man, you and me have different idea's of a party." Hercules said with a small chuckle. He was probably right.

 

 

~~~*~~~

After breakfast, Lafayette herded Alex- Yes, _herded_ , there was no other words to describe how he directed him on where to go, upstairs with the mission of getting into some of the new pajamas they had bought so that they could sit in the living room and watch Disney movies. This was happening because of the rather shocking reveal that Alex had never seen any disney movies. At all. Not even lion king. Which was a national disaster. So now, George was going to a meeting- on a Sunday, which seemed freaking weird, and Martha was out the back tending to the garden, which George was strongly against because he said that he was better with plants, but Martha, probably to prove him wrong, immediately decided that she was going to garden for the rest of the day.

 

John flopped down on to his knees in front of the T.V and sorted through the DVD's, setting aside ones he didnt think they should watch, naming them as he did so.

 

"Dumbo, no. Pinocchio, nope. Cinderella, no. Snow white, no. Pocahontas..." He paused, setting it aside in a new pile, "Maybe. Monsters inc., Maybe. Hunchback of Notre dame, _hell no_ \--"

 

"Oh! _Yes!_ I like that one!" Lafayette exclaimed,

 

"Yes, Laf, we know. We've seen it at least 25 times. Never again." John chided, not even looking up and instead continuing to sort through, mumbling under his breath and the saying louder, "Ew, Titanic? Why is that in the disney shelf-- Lion King! We're watching Lion King."

 

"Oh, Hell yes." Hercules said with his mouth full of cold bacon, " _Perfect_."

 

"Oui! Ahhhhh, Savenyaaaa!" Lafayette hollered and then broke out into laughter. John turned around and raised an eyebrow at him, grinning. Hercules was sitting on the couch, looking at his phone with his plate of cold bacon, Lafayette laying down with his head on his boyfriend's lap, occasionally stealing bits of bacon,

 

"It's 'Nants ingonyama', You _baguette_." He corrected,

 

"I don't know, I'm French, not a Zulu warrior, You _Soggy southern bread."_

 

"What does that even--"

 

Hercules sighed, "I _wish_ I was a Zulu warrior." He said thoughtfully, "They're awesome."

 

John turned back around, shaking his head slightly and putting the Lion king disk in the DVD player, humming _'Can you feel the love tonight'_ under his breath as he did so.

 

"I know that one." Laf declared, clearing his throat then saying in a bad imitation of Timon, "I can see what's happening."

 

_"What?"_ Hercules said dramatically,

 

"And they don't have a clue." Laf continued and John twisted to watch the exchange as the DVD loaded,

 

_"Who?"_

 

"They'll fall in love and _here's_ the bottom line...Our trio's down to two!"

 

_"Oh!"_ Hercules gasped loudly, dramatically putting a hand to his forehead like...Like a fainting maiden, really,

 

" _The sweet caress of twilight,"_ Lafayette exaggerated his French accent for this and Hercules grinned, "there's magic everywhere. But with this romantic atmosphere...Disaster's in the air!"

 

"Can you feel the love tonight!" All three of them sang loudly, John's eyes squeezed shut dramatically, "The peace that evening brings!"

 

John opened his eyes, his mouth open to continue the song even though Laf and Hercules had stopped to laugh, and his eyes caught Alex's. Alex had come down the stairs sometime during their Lion King interlude and was now standing there with a small, slightly amused smile. He had taken his hair out of the braids and it was wavier than usual, which looked...great, he was wearing a too-big, white sweater with the word 'Ugh.' in very small font in the middle, one side of the sweater sleeve slipping off of one shoulder and he had grey sweatpants on as well. He looked kinda a little bit sorta adorable. _Was that a thing he could think?_ Sure it was, _fuck you_.

 

"Hey, Alex. We're...gonna watch Lion King." John said with a smile, standing up and shoving Lafayette's legs off the couch, ignoring the 'Hey!' this received, "Come on over. _This_ is a monumental occasion."

 

Alex hesitantly started walking over, sitting on the opposite end of the couch and immediately bringing his legs up under him. Even when John turned around to get the remote, he could feel Alex's eyes on him.

 

_"Mon Petit Lion!_ I love this!" Lafayette said happily, a rustling noise making it obvious that he had sat up,

 

"Pardon?" Alex asked, "The movie?"

 

"No. Well, _Oui_ , but no. I mean this outfit. You suit light pajamas."

 

A pause, then, "Thanks, Laf."

 

"So, Alex, Have you heard of lion king?" John asked as he turned around, the logos from the start of the movie playing on the television as he sat down between Laf and Alex,

 

"Yeah. I think. It's the one with the dead lions and the.." He swiped a thumb across his forehead, "thing, right?"

 

"Oui, Oui.." Laf said,

 

"I like that those are the two things you picked up." Hercules put in, and Alex shrugged, tucking one side of his hair behind his ear as his eyes gravitated to the screen, the 'Nants ingonyama' thing now playing loudly.  
Alex seemed invested in the movie, bringing his knees up to his chest a few minutes in and watching attentively. He whispered a very quiet, " _Fuck."_ Whenever Simba found Mufasa dead, and John thought that summed it up pretty well. Lafayette sang alone to the songs enthusiastically, Hercules and John joining in occasionally and drawing soft chuckles from Alex.

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

 By the end of the movie, Lafayette had fallen asleep on Hercules, Hercules had fallen asleep with Lafayette on him, and John had drifted off as well, his head having drooped gradually onto Alex's shoulder and making Alex's heart miss a few beats out of surprise and...whatever _else_. The movie had been good, _really_ good, actually, a great mix of sad and not-sad scenes, but the moment of John falling asleep on his seemed to come out on top as the best part of the day so far. Everyone else was asleep at this moment, and Alex realised that they probably got a little less sleep than he did, so he tried not to move too much in case he disturbed them.

 

"They aren't the _best_ company, huh?" Martha whispered from behind him, and a slight panic set in to his belly. He didnt like having his back to people. Especially adults. He couldn't look at her, however, because if he did then John would be moved and woken up and-- Just as his heart started to speed up, Martha walked round so she was in front of him and looked around the group, her gaze stopping first on Lafayette and Hercules, an amused chuckle escaping her lips, then she looked at Him and John and her smile grew slightly,

 

"They're always like this when they don't get an excessive amount of sleep." She explained, "Did i hear lion king? Is _that_ what they started you with?"

 

"Yes, we were watching Lion King. Lafayette likes it _a lot_." Alex answered honestly. It was just them awake, he had no option other than speaking to her. No one else was going to.

 

"He likes Disney. Every time he brings up watching _Les Miserables_ , we try to steer him in the direction of Disney so he's got a little obsessed."

 

"What is _Les miserables_?" He asked quietly, never having heard of anything by that name,

 

"You don't?.. Oh, Well, It's a movie about the period after the first French revolution. It's very sad. It's set around the time the barricades were built. The barricades were--"

 

"Oh, the June rebellion?" Alex realised, and Martha pursed her lips in a thoughtful way,

 

"I think so. I'm not an expert. Did you learn about it in previous schools?" She asked curiously, and Alex glanced down,

 

"No...My, _uh_ , My mother was Half-French, she liked to talk about French history."

 

"I see, is that why you are fluent, then?" Martha said softly, surprisingly not prying for more information about his mother like most people did,

 

"Yes." He answered simply,

 

"And the Spanish...?"

 

"The majority of the island spoke Spanish, I learned it, French, and English the way children learn only English. I listened." Alex answered, fiddling with the sleeves of his sweater,

 

"Neat." Martha said, smiling, "That's really interesting, actually." He lifted his eyes and caught her's, searching her face and seeing only actual interest and fondness. It was always odd nowadays to see an adult's face have a genuine positive emotions on it without anything else lurking under the surface. "Anyway, Since tomorrow is Monday, George said he can take you to the school to get all signed up and then you can start whenever, if you'd like?"

 

"Yes, yes please." He said immediately, then John made a small noise and he spoke quieter, "That would be great, _thank you so much_.."

 

"Of course, Alex, It's no problem..."

 

Again, he couldn't see the usual traces of a lie. Huh, _Odd._ He wondered if he would need to get used to that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually so sorry about how long I took to update! I've been sick and school has started and i'm just overall exhausted all the time. I wanted to write something long to make up for this so this chapter is like over seven and a half thousand words long but half of it I don't remember writing so I apologise profusely about that :( I also haven't properly combed through it, so mistakes might appear a lot and I'm real sorry about that too!
> 
> Thank you so so so much for bearing with me this far and reading this <3 I love you all!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleep, food, angst, sleep, angst, bonding- Not bondage, you kinky fucks, Father-son bonding. (In that order, I believe.)

George had came home from his meeting with a distinctly happy look on his face which grew when he noticed the four boys on the couch, Alex seeming to be the only one awake and talking to Martha.

 

"George, honey, did it go well?" His wife asked quietly when she caught sight of him, walking over to press a kiss to his lips in greeting.

 

"Brilliantly. Even better than we expected." He smiled at her and then glanced at Alex, smile turning soft around the corners. He was looking forward, unable to turn his head because of the way John had draped his head on his shoulder, but he seemed tense, so George moved to stand a few feet in front of him, smiling when the boy relaxed a little, "Hello, Alex." 

 

Alex's eyebrow twitched down a little and a few emotions crossed his face at a million miles an hour before he attempted a small smile and replied in a hushed voice, "Hello, Mr Washington," His voice seemed a little raspy, like he was congested or something, but George couldn't help but feel pleased whenever Alex called him anything but 'Sir'. The title obviously held some weight for the Teenager, and it wasn't fun weight, "What was the meeting about?" He asked, voice evidently hesitant.

 

George slipped his hands into the pockets on his trousers, excited and ready to start explaining what he'd been working on for the past few months, "A few people and I have been trying to get this document passed on to--"

 

"Oh, don't get him started, Alex..." Martha interrupted, smiling teasingly at George as she came to stand beside him, her eyes portraying the underlying message that it might upset Alex, "You'll never hear the end of it."

 

Alex smiled a little, his lips barely tipping up at the corners but his eyes giving away that it was genuine, "I wouldn't mind." He said honestly, and then his eyes widened fractionally as John shuffled with a murmured 'Mmph', his head falling a little until it was instead on Alex's chest, top of his head resting under his chin. 

George's eyes tracked from John to Lafayette and Hercules and he huffed out a laugh at the three unconscious boys,

 

"What were you watching?"

 

"Lion king." Alex answered, dragging his gaze away from the top of John's head to meet George's.

 

"How long did they last before they conked out?" 

 

"Most of the movie. They were up earlier than I think they're used to on weekends, though, so I don't blame them." He answered honestly,

 

"Are _you_ used to getting up early on weekends?" Martha asked, and George turned to see that she had an eyebrow raised in disbelief. Most teenagers the Washington's knew would not be seen before 1pm on Saturdays or Sundays.

 

Alex shrugged dismissively, then muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously similar to one of the French words Lafayette said when expressing his disbelief or anger when the movement caused John to make a whining noise, "I, um, am not the fondest of sleep." He admitted, "Seems like a waste of time. I could always be doing _so much more_."

 

"Huh." Martha said, smiling, "You're like George."

 

"That's true." George agreed, "Martha has scolded me plenty of times for staying up too late to finish work."

Alex's mouth revealed another one of those half smiles that George was beginning to like drawing out of him,

 

"Has it stopped you?" 

 

"Of course." George said with a smile at Martha, then when she looked away he turned to Alex and mouthed ' _Nope_.' With a shake of his head.

 

" _George Washington_!" Martha whisper scolded, slapping his arm lightly, "Stop encouraging bad sleeping habits."

 

After an initial flinch from the quiet noise the play-slap made, Alex's small smile seemed a little nervous. Ugh, shoot. He seemed like he was in such a good mood and now it was slowly deflating.

 

"Someone has to." George teased back, trying to lighten the mood again, 

 

" _Shhh._.." came a grumble from the sofa, and George's head turned to see Lafayette blinking in the light and glaring at him sleepily, " _Some_ people are trying to sleep."

 

"At half past two in the afternoon?" Martha questioned, and Laf made a tired grunt of affirmation,

 

"Oui. It is, how you say... Mid-day sleep time?"

 

"It's a Nap." Alex supplied, "Naptime."

 

"Oui." Lafayette agreed and then closed his eyes again, "So leave us to nap, _adults_."

 

George chuckled and Martha shook her head with a fond huff of laughter, "Sure." He promised, then turned to Alex and lowered his voice to a quieter pitch, "Would you like me to put something on the TV so you don't get bored?"

 

Alex opened his mouth to object or something of the like, but Martha had already picked up the remote and put on some daytime TV show that George had never heard of, "There. We're going to be making dinner soon, since everyone missed lunch, and that will probably wake the boys up, but until then George and I will let you watch this terrible TV in peace." She said with a smile and Alex returned it half-heartedly,

 

"Thank you, Martha..." he said earnestly, and Martha nodded at him before walking to the kitchen, pausing to give George a look that clearly said 'Come on.'

 

"If you want, you can catch some Zs as well, Son.." George said with a small, friendly smile, leaving before Alex could answer.

 

He hoped the kid would sleep, God knows he needs it.

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

Alex waited until he was sure the Washington's had moved far enough into the kitchen to be out of range and then sniffed, almost groaning when he realised that his nose was blocked. There was also a wet itch in his throat that meant he needed to cough, but doing so would _definitely_ stir John and Alex really didn't want to wake him up. He was pretty sure it was his fault everyone was up so early that morning, so letting them sleep now was the least he could do.

 

" _Alexander_..." Lafayette murmured sleepily, and Alex turned his head very slightly so that the French teen was in his peripheral vision. His eyes were still closed and he looked like he was falling back asleep quickly. "Go to nap." Was all that Laf got out before he seemed to relax further into Hercules, definitely asleep.

 

Alex huffed out a breath of amusement at the phrasing but found that it just stirred the buildup in his throat and made him need to cough more, so he made a mental note to only breath through his one not blocked nostril until John was awake and off him. As much as Alex needed to clear his throat, he didn't want John to move.

It was... _strange_. It was weirdly comforting to have this boy he had met just yesterday asleep with his head on one side of his chest and one of his hands rested over the other side. It was also nice to see John's hand move up and down as Alex breathed steadily on purpose so that no uneven breaths would make the Teenager on top of him wake.

 

After a few moments of watching John's hand rise and fall with his chest, Alex started to feel his eyelids get heavy with sleepiness and no matter how rapidly he blinked, it wouldn't go away. He didn't want to sleep. He slept enough last night. He knows he did. So why was he all of a sudden tired again? 

  
What if he had a nightmare? That would definitely wake up John. This was too public an area to have a nightmare, even if it was a private living room. There were too many people that could witness it. It was bad enough that Mr Washington had witnessed it- Just hours after they met, to make matters worse, but Martha had also witnessed one of his nightmares.

_Too many people._

 

After the fifth time he had to blink his eyes open when they closed themselves, he started to panic. Keeping his breaths steady was getting damn near impossible to do through his one functional nostril and breathing through his mouth was now not only making his need to cough worse, but also giving his breaths a wet, raspy sound. He needed to ground himself, panicking would wake up John.

 

_In, Un, Deux, Trois. Out, Un, Deux, Trois._   
_In, Un, Deux, Trois. Out, Un, Deux, Trois._   
_In, Un, Deux, Trois. Out, Un, Deux, Trois._   
_In, Un, Deux, Trois. Out, Un, Deux, Trois._   
_In, Un...Deux...Trois..._

 

Before he could count his breaths out, Alex had accidentally tricked himself into falling asleep, wet breaths slowing down into a normal pace.

 

~~~*~~~

 

When John first woke up, he didn't question what had woke him up so suddenly, no, he just moved closer to whatever was providing the warmth that was bleeding into him from one side of his body. His hand curled to grab a handful of the blanket he assumed would be there, and he did get a handful of soft fabric, but it wasn't a blanket. His eyes snapped open and, sure enough, he had a handful of Alex's sweater in his hand. He was lying on Alex. He had fallen asleep... _on Alex_. His thought train was derailed when a small whimper pierced the air, and he raised his head to see Alex's sleeping face looking the opposite of relaxed. His eyebrows were pinched downwards with an expression that was immediately recognisable as fear and the corners of his eyes were damp with previously shed tears. 

 

Nightmare. _Fuck_.

 

"Hey, _Shh_ , It's okay, Alex..." John whispered softly, frowning when he noticed that the smaller teen's slightly too fast breaths had a slight rasp to them. He was sick. "Alex, You're safe..."

 

_"John_... _Ve_..." Alex's voice was so quiet he was barely audible, but John was able to pick out his name easily. Though it took him a moment to realise that 'Ve' wasn't just a noise, it was Spanish. Alex was telling him to go? Had he accidentally implanted himself into his nightmare? Shit. Of course he did.

 

"It's a nightmare, Alex. Just a bad dream..." He whispered softly again, reaching up to stroke some of his hair out of his face.

 

Alex sank lower into the chair and John went with him, resting his head back on his chest and tracing shapes over where his heart was. Eventually, Alex's raspy breathing evened out and by some miracle he managed to stay asleep, now relaxed and sleeping soundly. 

 

He sent a silent prayer to whatever deities he could think of that Alex would be able to sleep a little longer and turned his attention to the TV, which was, for some reason, playing _Dance Moms_. Lafayette loved this show and had made John and Hercules watch it with him on multiple occasions to the point where John low-key enjoyed watching it, something he would never admit out loud because then he would have to endure months of 'I-told-you-so's from Laf. 

 

Apparently the show was having a marathon, so John had watched two full episodes before the smell of something delicious drifted into the living room and Lafayette woke up with a funny sounding snort,

 

"Food?" The Frenchman said, sleepiness making him forget to whisper,

 

"Laf, _shhhh_..." Hercules groaned, apparently also awake,

 

"Mon Amour, I can smell food!" Lafayette said in a hushed but urgent voice, 

 

"Shut _up_ , you two." John whispered, "Alex is--"

 

"Awake now." Alex finished, voice almost as raspy as his breath had been.

 

"Oh, great. We're all up! Now, can we..." Lafayette trailed off, and then sat up so fast he almost fell off the sofa, "Oh, Mon Dieu! Dance moms is on."

 

John sat up, rubbing leftover sleep from the corners of his eyes and smiling sleepily at Alex, who still looked exhausted, and then turning to look at Herc and Laf, "I think G-Wash put it on."

 

"No, it was Martha..." Alex amended, sitting up straight and raising his hand to cover his mouth as he yawned, almost hiding the wince that followed. _Almost_. Did he have a sore throat?

 

"Does she hate us that much?" Hercules said in a flat voice, and Lafayette threw himself dramatically over his boyfriend's lap,

 

"Mon Lapin! She _loves_ us enough to grace us with the magnificence that is 'Dance Moms'" he stated, and Hercules turned to Alex,

 

"Ever seen Dance Moms?" He asked, and Alex shook his head, "Lucky shit. Lafayette puts it on so often that I have the intro permanently seared into my brain, man, I'm telling you."

 

"We've got kind of off track, guys. I'm pretty sure we're all up because Laf smelled food." John butted in, cutting off the dance moms talk before it could go too deep, 

 

"Told you they would wake up whenever we started dinner, Alex.." Martha said from the doorway, and everyone turned around to look at her. She was smiling, her dark, curly hair bound up in a bun at the back of her head and her sleeves rolled up, "George is making pasta bake, and I'm about to start making cookies."

 

"Best parents ever." Lafayette said simply, clumsily climbing off the couch and walking over to Martha, planting a kiss on her cheek with a dramatic 'Mwah!' Sound, 

 

"Don't you know it." She responded fondly, "I came in to ask whoever was conscious if we should do chocolate chip cookies or just go wild and throw, like, all the chocolate into the mix?"

 

"All." Lafayette said,

 

"Not White chocolate though, too sweet." John added, and they were both grinning. 

 

Hercules shrugged, "I'm good with anything." 

 

"Me too..." Alex agreed

 

"You're both a couple of regular Switzerlands, aren't you?" John teased, stretching his hands above his head and smiling at Alex, 

 

"Depends on the subject. Are cookies worth going to war?" Alex said, and John thought he was serious until the corner of his lips twitched and god damn it, that was a joke. Alex made a joke, _and_ had a convincing poker face.

 

Lafayette laughed once, loudly, "Oui!" He said enthusiastically, overly serious face on, "Of course!"

 

" _Boys_ , don't start another uprising in this living room." Martha said, though she had that fond smile on,

 

"We won't, Mrs Washington." Hercules promised, then paused and considered his words before continuing with a small grin, "Not today."

 

"Alright. Well, if any of you get shot or stabbed with a bayonet or something, I'll be baking." She said with laughter in her voice and then went back into the kitchen,

 

" _Another_?" Alex asked, soft enough that John almost missed that he had spoke at all,

 

"Ah, yes. Another. We had the great cat rebellion  around two years ago." Lafayette informed him, grinning and sitting down on the carpet in front of the sofa, his legs crossed under him. 

 

"Pardon?" Alex asked in a flat voice, eyebrow raised, and John leaned back a little to get a better look at that expression. He liked it. 

 

"The great cat rebellion." Hercules confirmed, "John was out and found this kitten all hungry and shit and he brought it to us because there was, like, no way he would be allowed to keep it at his house, and we fed it a load of weird milk from the store that's made for cats and then the Washington's came home and were like, _'Yeah guys of course we'll feed the cat because we're not monsters but then we need to find it's family_.'" He said the last part with a weird tone, and John wasn't sure if he was imitating Martha or George, 

 

"Because it had a tag." John added, and Hercules nodded, Lafayette continuing instead of Herc,

 

"So we, uh, made a fort." He said with a grin, "We made a big fort in the living room and hid in here with all the cat food and the cat and we had scheduled times for one of us to leave and get supplies and any time George or Martha tried to come in we threw singular pieces of cat food at them until they gave up. It was going so well, Mon Ami, we lasted two days, but..."

 

"G-Wash used to be in the Military." John continued, "So we shouldn't have been so surprised when he shouted 'incoming!' And then both him and Martha started to launch fucking bean bags at our fort! Hercules picked up the kitten and bolted past G-wash up the stairs while shouting 'They're battering down the battery! Check the damages!' As a reference to--"

 

"A battery like a line of cannons or battery park like Fort Amsterdam in the American Revolution?" Alex interrupted, interest colouring his voice and a faint blush colouring his cheeks just after he spoke. John wasn't even surprised that Alex knew that. He was obviously _that_ smart.

 

"Yeah. _Those_." John answered eloquently, not sure what Hercules actually meant anymore, 

 

Alex mumbled something about stealing the cannons that made Hercules grin, and John continued,

 

 "And Lafayette was like 'We used to be allies!' And it was amazing. Truly beautiful. We made a makeshift treaty and put up posters for the cat, we found his owner a few days later." 

 

"That sounds... _interesting_." Alex conceded, 

 

"That's one word for it. We're _still_ finding cat food in places." Hercules said with a grin and Lafayette laughed, John following with a chuckle,

 

"Have you ever had a cat, Petit Lion?" Laf asked Alex, head tilted back to look up at him from the floor, 

 

"Uh, no." Alex answered, raising a hand to scratch the back of his neck, holding his hand there after he had done so, "I mean, I used to feed my neighbours cat sometimes? Most people called her Mía."

 

" _Most people_?" John asked, curious, and Alex swallowed visibly. Well, visibly to him, because his gaze happened to be in the general area of his neck at that point, 

 

"Everyone fed her. She was like a...community cat." He answered, his lips turning up in something resembling a smile, a little too much sadness mixing with the fondness.

 

"I see. Like Lafayette." John hummed and Laf gasped dramatically,

 

"I am wounded! I am not a cat, I am a...a...a majestic bird! The one with the blue feathers that go..." Lafayette rested both of his hands on the back of his head and then straightened his arms to make it seem like something was spreading out from that area. It was hilarious. John didn't blame Alex for spluttering out a laugh.

 

"A peacock?" Hercules suggested, and Laf let his arms drop,

 

"What the _fuck_ kind of name is _that_?" He said with a disgusted face,

 

"Like it's any better it French." John retorted, grinning,

 

"It's Paon in French." Alex said, an eyebrow raised slightly as he looked between the three, "Which is kind of way less ridiculous than peacock."

 

A pause, then Hercules shrugged, and Alex leaned back against the chair, looking smaller, "Fair enough." Herc said, "What's it in el Spanish-o?"

 

"El Pavo real." John said, grinning at Alex as he crossed his legs underneath him and then turning his grin to Laf, "Which is beautiful. Spanish wins as the best language yet again."

 

"False." Lafayette stated petulantly.

 

"You can't just say ' _False_ ' without saying why-"

 

"False." Lafayette insisted, "I need no proof. You are _incorrect_."

 

"I like french more, tbh." Hercules said with a small shrug, pronouncing the letters 't' 'b' and 'h' separately, and Lafayette barked out a _'Ha!'_ very loudly, his finger pointing at John,

 

John groaned, leaning his head back to rest against the back of the couch and staring at the ceiling, "Okay, one: You gotta stop using text speak in real life, man. And two: You have to say that 'cause you're dating a French."

 

"Alex," Lafayette started, voice purposely friendly and pleading, "You speak both. You know. Tell John french is better."

 

John turned to Alex, mouth open to say he didn't have to answer, assuming that he would be uncomfortable with the sudden pressure that was being thrust- _which is a great word, by the way_ , onto him by Lafayette, and was surprised to instead see him still sitting cross-legged, leaning forward slightly with his elbows resting on his knees and his chin resting on one of his hands, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed slightly in thought. Another expression that John liked. Alex tilted his head slightly and regarded Laf, who was attempting his infamous puppy eyes, before turning to John, and then shrugging, "I hold French closer to my heart," He admitted, and Laf started to grin before he continued, "But, some Spanish words are _...prettier_."

 

"Correct." John exclaimed, happily surprised,

 

"I guess so." Hercules said, shrugging at Laf when he scowled at him, "What? I like _amarillo_. There was a song about it."

 

"Betrayal." Laf whispered, putting as much feeling into that one word as he could, "I have been betrayed."

 

"Hey, at least we can agree that both of the languages are better than German." John extended a metaphorical olive branch and the other boys eagerly accepted it, humming in agreement and murmuring little 'yeah's, and then Alex shrugged,

 

"There was a German speaking Austrian lady on the island." He ran a hand through his hair to push it out of his face and John slipped onto the floor beside Laf to look at Alex while he spoke, intrigued, Hercules twisting in his seat to sit sideways, "I don't know why she moved there." He said hastily, sounding apologetic, like he was sorry for not knowing the details of the story, "She just... _did_. She was called Armina. She spoke German a lot, but I had convinced myself and a few other people that it was a made up language because it sounded nothing like anything I spoke, so I don't remember much."

 

John was sure that his use of the word ' _people_ ' instead of ' _kids_ ' wasn't a mistake, and was now imagining a much younger Alex being so damn convincing in his argument that German wasn't a real language that even teenagers- or, hell, probably adults as well, started to believe him. Then he remembered Alex's genuine seeming excitement specifically towards debate class, and grinned. If he could convince grown human beings that a valid language wasn't real, he could probably whoop Jefferson's ass in an argument. Maybe John could get him to convince the teacher that Jefferson wasn't a real person. Maybe he could convince Jefferson that Jefferson wasn't a real person! Oh, the possibilities.

  
After a moment of this train of though, John realised that he was definitely getting ahead of himself about this. He had probably actually just misinterpreted what Alex said anyway and--

 

"You made people think German wasn't real?" Lafayette inquired with a raised eyebrow, choking on a laugh when Alex nodded,

 

"Of course, in a way. German is kind of ridiculous, it wasn't hard." He justified, and there was a short pause where everyone considered this information.

 

"Huh. Cool." Hercules said simply. That summed it up.

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful.

 

They all ate dinner together and spoke and joked and laughed and it was great- It would have been a lot better if Alex hadn't felt like his stomach was trying to force it's way up his oesophagus with every bite that he took of George Washington's frankly delicious pasta. There was a nagging, pulsing pain behind his left eye socket that was getting more obvious each time he blinked and the tickle in his throat stayed there throughout the meal, his occasional, discreet sniffs not doing anything about his congested nose. To summarise, _it sucked_. It sucked, _but_ he'd had worse _._

  
After dinner and cookies, which were also _amazing_ , John and Hercules had to go back to their own homes. Lafayette hugged Hercules, murmuring soppy complaints about missing him that turned into mutters about some kind of homework. John shook his head at them fondly, turning to Alex and saying, "Aren't they adorable?" before doing this odd shoulder pat thing and promising to see Alex tomorrow at some point when he was at school getting signed up. It came as a shock to Alex that he didn't want them to leave.

He would think that after years of abandonment- both voluntary and involuntary, he would be used to people walking away. And, _hey_ , they weren't even _going-going_. He would see them soon. Even if he wasn't going to see them soon, he had just met them, and he was usually better at not forming attachments so soon.

 

Yet, here he was. Forming attachments so soon.

 

So many attachments in so little time, there was no way it was going to turn out good. It never did.

Anyway, John and Hercules left. There was a conversation with George, Martha and Lafayette that he was not paying enough attention to to remember. There was something about the dinner, then something about how Martha should have stayed out of the garden, then laughter, then a tentative, "Alex?" and the conversation shifted to include him.

 

Was he excited about school? Yes, can't wait.

 

Did he have a good day? Yes, thank you.

 

There was more talking. He contributed when he needed to and was pretty damn good at pretending to focus, so no one could possibly tell that the migraine that had been building was at a peak, a spot in the middle of his vision was gone and he felt more sick than ever, but the pain was what stuck out to him most. It felt as if his own little hurricane had built up in his brain on one side and was furiously pelting gale force winds at his temples and throwing bricks from the ruins of houses at the backs of his eyes. If he had to describe best how it felt to someone, he would say: It hurt like a _motherfucker_ , but he'd had worse.

 

"Alexander," Lafayette said, and Alex blinked, realising that Martha and George were no longer standing with them and it was just him and Laf now. He didn't notice he had zoned out. "I don't know about you, but I am exhausted."

 

"Yeah, uh, same, I guess.." Alex replied, running a hand through his hair and then lowering it when he noticed he happened to be shaking slightly,

 

"We should both go get some sleep, then.." The Frenchman said casually. Too casually. Alex could always, usually, tell when he was being manipulated. But he was so tired.

 

"Yeah." He just agreed.

 

Lafayette went to his room after wishing Alex goodnight with a soft smile and a hug, and Alex went to his.

 

The room was cold and it was refreshing, like breathing in fresh air after spending a lifetime suffocating. Gracelessly, Alex flopped onto the bed with a groan, not bothering with the soft sheets and instead falling asleep on top of the covers within a matter of moments, the pain and nausea fading away along with his consciousness.

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

"Is everything alright?" Martha asked her husband as they he turned off the main light in their bedroom, the room illuminated only by the single lamp on their bedside table.

 

"Yes. Gil is on the phone with Hercules, who was helping him with some last minute homework, and Alex is asleep." George said as he undid his tie and started to unbutton his shirt, "He fell asleep on top of the covers, so I put one of those blankets that your mother made over him. Kid must have been exhausted."

 

"I think he has a cold, or maybe even the flu. Last night, Gil noticed his breathing was kind of rough sounding, and then today you could hear in his throat. It could be a throat infection. Do you think we can convince him to wait until he's not sick before starting school?"

 

Her husband smiled a little sadly and shook his head, pulling a white shirt over his head and changing into his Red plaid pajama bottoms, "I don't think so, Martha. He's excited about going to school, a cold won't stop him."

 

"But, George," She sighed, "If he has a throat infection or, god forbid, a cough that he's trying to hide, he could be breathing shallower and the mucus will build in his lungs and-"

 

" _Pneumonia_. I remember." He finished with a sigh, sitting down beside his wife in the bed and pulling the sheets up to cover his legs, "Okay. How about, if he seems at all like he has either of those tomorrow, we get cough syrup and amoxicillin and pray to god he isn't the kind of stubborn that disregards taking medicine as anything other than necessary."

 

"Try to coax him into saying how he feels tomorrow, wont you, Dear?" Martha asked, lying on her side so she was facing him, "So i can see what he needs?"

 

"Alright, Darling." George promised, following her lead and also lying down and facing her, "I'll do my best."

Martha smiled at her husband and leaned her head in to kiss him softly before turning halfway over to switch off the lamp and then moving closer to George, pulling the sheets up to cover them both,

 

"Goodnight, George.."

 

"Goodnight, Martha.."

  
~~~*~~~

 

  
Alex wasn't as caught off guard when he rolled out of bed and threw up in the toilet again the next morning.

 

As he climbed into the shower to wash the layer of sweat and the feelings of disgust from waking up at half four in the morning and vomiting up the cookies and pasta from the previous night, he wondered if he was going to be subjected to this every morning. And if there was a reason it was only happening in the mornings.

 

After he emerged from the shower, he had to sit down on the toilet seat for a moment just to calm the rush of blood to his head and slow his climbing heartrate, which he could hear in his ears, as he began to put his boxers and his pajama bottoms on.

 

After sending out a silent prayer that the rest of the house was asleep enough to not hear him, he raised a hand to his mouth and finally allowed himself a few muffled coughs. 'A few' meaning he coughed non-stop for a good five minutes, during which he had slid onto the cool floor to get more support, and after which he was left with an aching, burning throat and a breathlessness that was exhausting.

 

While he was clearing fluids out of his body, he decided to fold some toilet paper and blow his nose. After this, he was left sitting against the bathroom wall and amazed at the fact that he could breath easier through his nose now, but even more exhausted. The idea of wrestling himself back into the sweater was... _exhausting._

Everything was exhausting.

 

So instead he stumbled back into his bedroom and curled up on the too-soft bed, pulling a too-soft blanket around his shoulders to keep his chest warm and closing his eyes. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his head telling him that he had forgotten to do something. There was something he was supposed to have done. But he was so bone-deep tired, and he didn't want to be this tired when he went to sign up for school, so he ignored the gut feeling, and let himself be dragged back into sleep.

 

He woke up a few hours later to the sound of someone knocking on his door, "Uh, _Alex?_ Are you up, son?"

 

It was George.

 

Before Alex was even fully awake, instincts from living with the other George had him out of bed on his way to open the door without thinking, the blanket that he had pulled around his shoulders last night still in place when he opened the door, blinking in the light from the hallway and looking up into the face of a slightly surprised George Washington.

 

There was a few moments of silence, which Alex was waiting for George to fill and George was waiting for Alex to fill. Only when the man's eyes drifted to his exposed chest did Alex remember that he was in fact _very_ exposed, meaning that George had probably seen the dark bruise on his side that was the product of a few well-aimed kicks, or the more faded bruise in the centre of his chest that, if anyone got a close enough look, still had the rough shape of a shoe. Pulling the blanket tighter around himself to hide any exposed skin, Alex decided that maybe he should speak.

 

"Yes, Sir?" He asked, brow furrowed, voice rough. He had to supress a wince because, Jesus, his throat still ached, and also _'Sir'_. Again. Get your shit together, Hamilton, He scolded himself.

 

"Alex, I was hoping to get you signed up at the school soon." George said after clearing his throat and looking back at Alex, "Though, if you aren't feeling up to it, we can-"

 

"No, no, I'm fine, Mr Washington. I'll get ready now, thank you." He said quickly, forcing a small smile and pretending not to notice how also forced the one he got in reply was as he slowly closed the door to his room and pausing for a moment before walking to the wardrobe they had put his new clothes in, grabbing a hair tie from the table and pulling his hair up, if only for a few moments while he got dressed.

 

He went through the motions of getting dressed without thinking of the individual movements, his mind wandering as he pulled soft, clean items of clothing on. As he pulled a black shirt over his head, the dull pain in his ribs shot up his side and reminded him of the cool kitchen floor that he was curled up on when they were cracked and bruised. When he stepped into a pair of soft, dark denim jeans and pulled them up his legs, the fabric rubbed against the mostly invisible scar tissue on his knee from when he'd fallen from a tree on the island and got a sharp rock stuck in it. Pulling on socks and shoes required him to bend over, making every injury he had received from the neck down ache with both real pain and the memory of even worse pain. Putting on the grey jacket was relatively painless- if 'relatively painless' means that while it still hurts, it hurts less than some other body parts.

 

Alex walked over to the mirror in the bathroom and frowned at his reflection. There were bags under his eyes, but there always was, so he ignored them in favour of running a hand down the fading bruise and small cut on one of his cheeks and onto the lighter ones on his neck (he could still feel phantom hands constricting his airways whenever they had a point to make).

 

As he pulled the hair tie from his hair and allowed the brown locks to cascade around his face, managing to frame it and make some of his bruising less obvious to anyone who wasn't looking for it. The braids that Lafayette had woven into his hair had made that day the first time in just under a year that he had willingly let anyone else had see him with his hair not down. The first time in a year one of his many walls was cracked.

 

He had a feeling that this family was going to be testing a lot more of his walls, and he wasn't sure how that made him feel.

 

Alex splashed some water in his face and this sniffed, clearing his throat with a wince and then pushing hair out of his face as he walked through his dark room- the dark blue curtains were keeping out all the light, and out the door, closing it lightly behind him and immediately walking down the stairs, the creaking of the wood underneath the cream carpet the only noise being made to show that Alex was there at all. By the time he reached the bottom step, George was emerging from the kitchen and offering a warm smile,

 

"Hello, Alex." He said, leaning against the doorway, "Gil is at school and Martha has left for work, but I promised her I'd get you to eat something before we leave, so come on into the kitchen, have some coffee and then you can choose between slightly too-crunchy toast or a variety of cereals." And then he went back into the kitchen before Alex could reply, leaving him only with the option to blink and follow the man into the kitchen.

 

Inside the kitchen, George was pouring coffee into a mug, "Cereal or Toast?"

 

"Uh, Cereal, Please..." He croaked, and one of George's hands reached out to take a bowl out of the cupboard,

 

"The cereals are in the cupboard to the left." He said as he slid the bowl over to Alex, "Milk is in the fridge."

 

While he poured Cheerios into the bowl, he was hit with how oddly domestic this moment was. Even though it was only him and George, a fact that had him involuntarily tense and on edge, there was something weirdly too-normal about pouring cereal that he chose into a ordinary, not fancy bowl and then pouring milk out of the plastic container it was bought in into the cereal. It was... _nice_.

 

George hummed under his breath as he set the coffee down in front of Alex and then sat down across from him, unfolding a newspaper and sipping on his own coffee. After a moment of sitting with the cereal and coffee in front of him and waiting for George to say something, he realised that he wasn't going to, so he ate. His stomach was painfully empty, making him unsure whether he actually felt sick or he was just unusually hungry. The cereal scraped his throat painfully on the way down and the coffee burned, but he kept going, sitting back and holding the remainder of his coffee in both hands once he finished the cereal.

 

"So, Alex, How're you feeling this morning?" George asked with a sort of forced casualness, and Alex briefly wondered what he had done to warrant this line of questioning.

 

"Fine," He said softly- or, as softly as he could, purposely leaving off any titles like 'sir' or 'Mr Washington'. He tried really hard to keep his voice level and, well, 'fine' sounding, "Excited about signing up for school." He admitted, and George smiled at him. A more genuine, less forced smile,

 

"That's nice, Son," He  started, and the same feeling that Alex had got the previous times the man called him that. Sad, Angry, Happy, all at once. But he ignored all of these. "You sound a little rough, though, are you sick?"

 

Ha, more than he knew. "Just a cold." He said instead, swallowing at George's skeptical look and continuing quickly, "Maybe a bit of a sore throat too, but it's fine. Normal."

 

"Alright.." George said slowly, nodding, "We'll pick up some, uh, medicine on the way home from school, then."

 

Alex tilted his head slightly, "Are you sure I need any medication?" He asked with a slightly raised eyebrow, raising the cup of coffee to his lips and finishing it,

 

"Better safe than sorry. When I was in the army I caught a cold on patrol and refused medication from the stationed nurse, because someone else needed it more, and by the end of the month I'd caught pneumonia. Got a crazy high fever and gave our nurse quite a scare."

 

Alex's heart hammered in his chest at George's words, memories of his mother's too-hot, burning skin pressed against his as they held each other fading into memories of his own too-hot skin holding her too-cold, lifeless body. No, _bad_ train of thought. It's too early for this train of thought.

 

"Are _you_ the nurse in this situation?" Alex asked, forcing his voice to be steady to keep up a façade of calm,

 

"Yes, I suppose I am. Though I'm not quite as beautiful as my nurse was." George said with a secret smile,

 

Alex paused, eyes searching the man's expression and finding a familiar, soft look in his eyes.

"Was...was the nurse Martha?" He asked tentatively, and George raised his eyebrows before grinning and nodding,

 

"You figured that out quick. How did you know?"

 

"You had this look." He said with a shrug, "And Martha seems the type to be an Army nurse."

 

"You're very observant, Alex." George hummed, and Alex felt heat rise in his neck from the praise, "I like to think I'm observant, too, and I noticed your look when i mentioned pneumonia. Have you had it?" The man asked softly and, not knowing how to reply, Alex shrugged, "Not fun, huh?" _Jesus_ , he didn't even know what he was talking about. He didn't know how much his very simple words were burning through Alex's heart. Not fun was one way to put it, yeah. "Which is why I think you need some medicine. Just incase."

 

"Alright." Alex said in a smaller voice, wanting to slump on his seat, instincts telling him to look as small as possible if he didn't want to fight- to show that he didn't want to fight, but instead he stood up. He stood up and picked up his empty cup and bowl, walking over to the dishwasher and putting them in.

 

"Thank you, Alex." George sounded so genuinely grateful that Alex turned around immediately, sure his face was showing only a fraction of the surprise he was feeling, "I don't want you to get more sick. Neither does Martha, or Gilbert" The man offered, and Alex realised that both George and Martha had a habit of going between Lafayette's preferred name and 'Gilbert', making him wonder if there was a system to when they called him either of the names, or if they were unconscious of it.

 

Alec just nodded once, tucking his hair behind his ear, a nervous gesture he was mostly unaware of, "Are we, _uh_ , can we go?" He asked hesitantly, suddenly yearning to get out of the house.

 

"Yeah," George said with a small smile, standing up, "Let me just grab my keys and we can go."

 

~~~*~~~

 

The car journey...wasn't as bad as George thought it might me. Anytime he was alone with the kid, he felt the need to tiptoe around him like he was a bomb. Alex was so wary of George, as well, tiptoeing around him like _he_ was a bomb. So, it was safe to say that George assumed the car journey to school would be silent, awkward, and too long. His thoughts were proved wrong almost immediately when he turned on the radio and that new song, Despacito or something, came on.

 

Alex tilted his head slightly as he listened, eyebrows furrowed, "Who is that singing?"

 

"In that first Spanish part? I don't know." George admitted, pleased to have a topic of conversation, "But the first guy is Justin Bieber."

 

"Huh." Alex said shortly, making a face, "The lyrics are... _something_."

 

"How so?" George pressed gently, wanting to keep this going,

 

"Uh," The Teen paused, "well, the first thing he said was something like 'I've been looking at you for a while' and now that Bieber guy is talking about how he want's to, 'Trespass your danger zones'."

 

"Trespass my _what_ now?" George parroted, sneaking a glance at Alex to see him looking at his lap with a small smile which made the man smile as well as he looked back at the road, "Jesus, _Biebs_. I remember when that kid was singing about butterflies and all that, now he's into danger zones?"

 

"Spanish sounds exotic enough that no one ever questions what you're saying." Alex said with a shrug, "Like, um," He paused, thinking, then in what sounded a melodic rush of sounds, said, " _Tienes la cara como una nevera por detras."_

 

"And what does that mean?" George asked curiously,

 

"'You have a face like the back of a fridge'." Alex said, a little bit of teasing in his tone, and George couldn't help but laugh out loud from the ridiculousness of the little phrase, the boy's amused tone egging him on, admittedly,

 

"Did you- Did you make that up, or is that an actual thing?" He asked, wiping tears from his eyes and letting out one last chuckle,

 

"It's an actual insult. People use it." Alex replied, sounding pleased but confused by George's laughter,

 

"Are French insults any worse? Occasionally, Gil rants in french when upset at something and he never explains what he means."

 

There was a moment of silence, then Alex huffed a small laugh, "I'm going to list some of my favourites, stop me if you are familiar with one of them." George nodded and Alex went on, " _Pompe a chiasse, Mes couilles sur ton front, Je te chie dans le cou, Caca boudin-"_

 

"That one!" George blurted, recognising the phrasing, "Caca something. He's said that."

 

" _He has_? With regards to what?" Alex asked curiously, amusement barely concealed in his voice,

 

"Something to do with school." George answered, "What does it mean?"

 

"Shit sausage." He said bluntly, startling another laugh from George, his voice growing warmer, like he was smiling, when he continued, "Or, literally translated, Poop pudding. Either way, a beautiful use of alliteration."

 

This was nice. It was like, for a brief moment, Alex was unburdened by whatever had happened in his life to leave the scarring on his mind didn't matter. Like he could laugh and joke with George like a normal 16 year old.

 

"Oh, yes. _Beautiful_." George said teasingly, then pulled up to the school, "Well, We're here. We just need to go the office, get some forms, fill them in, and that should be it sorted."  He parked the car and took the key out of the ignition, turning in his seat to see Alexander- To see _Alex_ fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket, "Ready?"

 

Alex looked up, his lips tightening into a firm line and his eyes meeting George's as he nodded, before turning and opening the car door, stepping out onto the stone pavement and tilting his head back to look at the school. George climbed out of the car and stood beside him, looking down at the boy but unable to understand the relief in his eyes. Children and Teenagers hated school. That was a fact that every adult knew- that every adult had lived.

 

But not Alex.

 

_Alex_ , who was so excited about school that he wanted to be there as soon as possible. _Alex_ , who refused to put off going to school because he was sick. _Alex_ , who was staring up at this building like it held life's greatest treasure.

 

George set a hand on his shoulder, pretended the small flinch the action received didn't feel like someone had stabbed a needle through his chest, and said softly, "Let's go in, shall we?"

 

Alex turned his head to look up at George and swallowed, then nodded, and they both entered the school together.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I am so so so so so sorry that I took so long to update! I wanted to include so much more in this chapter, then I realised how long it'd been since I updated and thought fuck it, I have to post something.
> 
> The French insults are, in order: 'Diarrhea pump, My balls on your nose, and I shit down your neck. Then of course, the last one is translated. I got them from buzzfeed but shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :)
> 
> Also, not proofread. So tell me if I spell anything horrifically wrong or something please and thank you mwaaaaah
> 
> Thanks for reading this far <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BAsically:   
> Lowkey Lams,   
> The Schuyler Sisters,   
> wOw George is a senator?????????????,   
> Lafayette and Alex are Broooooothers,  
> Pie :)

The school was more dull than usual that morning, at least it was for John. It turned out that Thomas Jefferson hadn't actually started school again whenever Hercules saw him, but was in fact only there to tell the Principal that he would be requiring a few days off to deal with jetlag, or some other bullshit excuse that only Jefferson could ever get away with.

 

While this made his school day much easier, it also made it seem longer and much more boring.

 

John had just left Chemistry class and was now on his way to lunch to meet up with Lafayette and Hercules again when he noticed something at the other side of the hallway.  George Washington was conversing casually with Mr Franklin, the principal, and beside them was Alex. Of course, John knew that he was coming in today to get signed up for his classes, but it was still a pleasant surprise to see a few familiar faces. And if one of the faces was kind of cute and excited looking (like a freaking puppy or something) then, _well_ , he wasn't going to complain.

 

Hoisting his backpack over one shoulder, he started down the hallway at a jog, navigating around the crowds of teenagers, "Hey!" He called to them as he got nearer, grinning at Alex whenever he spotted him and then turning to Mr Washington and Mr Franklin, greeting them, "Alex, G-Wash, Principal Franklin."

 

"Hi." Alex said softly, eyes crinkling slightly to portray that his smile was more genuine that the one ghosting across his lips made it seem,

 

"Hello, Mr Laurens." Principal Franklin said with a nod,

 

"Hello, John. Isn't it your lunch?" George said, and John shrugged,

 

"It is, yeah." He said, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket, "Laf and Herc are waiting for me in the Cafeteria, but I wanted to come over and see how this," He gestured vaguely at the three of them, "Is going."

 

"This is going well, Mr Laurens. I was showing Mr Hamilton some of the achievements of the school." He said, and John realised that they were indeed beside the trophy cases,

 

"Oh, yes." He turned to Alex, "Has he told you about how the football team won in '99 with only five players?"

 

"He has." Alex and George said at the same time, though George had a hint of exasperation in his voice. Him and Principal Franklin had known each other for years, so John couldn't imagine how many times he had heard the story.

 

"It's a fascinating story, George." The Principal said sternly, though he was half smiling, pale eyes twinkling behind circular glasses,

 

"Oh, _of course_ , Ben." George said solemnly, resting a hand on Alex shoulder- which resulted in the Teenager flinching slightly, which John filed away in Alex's section of his mental 'Things that suck' folder- before turning to John, "John, It was nice seeing you, but I would hate for you to miss your lunch to listen to stories you've already heard."

 

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to get rid of me." John teased, then sighed, "But, yeah, who knows what Lafayette is doing without me there as the voice of reason."

 

To his surprise, it was Principal Franklin who barked out a laugh, "Mr Laurens, the last time Mr Lafayette was 'Rap Battling' Mr Adams, instead of stopping him, you joined in. If my memory serves me right, it was Mr Mulligan who ended it."

 

"'Ended it'" John smirked, looking at Alex and feeling pleased that he looked amused, "He jumped in front of us and won the rap battle." He said with a grin and Alex huffed a laugh,

 

"Is that a... common occurrence?" Alex asked, "Students rap battling in the halls?"

 

"No." Principal Franklin said,

 

"Yes." John said at the same time, then took his hands out of his pocket to tuck some hair behind his ear, "Uh, I mean, _no_?" His Principal gave him a look and he smiled innocently, before winking at Alex and getting a raised eyebrow and a faint half-smile in return, "Anyway, I should actually get going. Goodbye G-Wash, Principal Franklin. See you, Alex."

 

The two adults nodded and politely smiled a goodbye, and Alex reached up to brush some of his dark hair behind his ear, "Bye, John."

 

He turned and began to walk towards the cafeteria, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

"Good chemistry class?" Lafayette asked him when he sat down, a smile still present on his face,

 

"No, that's not his _'That was a good class'_ smile," Hercules said, leaning his chin on his hand, grinning, "That's his _'Life is good'_ smile. And he hates chemistry, so that's not why he is smiling."

 

"Ah, I see." Laf's grin now matched Herc's as he leaned forward, speaking slowly and obviously in a sarcastic way, "So, something happened on the way from Chemistry to here? I wonder what could have happened in such a short distance to make you three minutes late, _and_ happy."

 

John breathed out a laugh and opened his bottle of water, taking a drink and shaking his head, "Shut up." He muttered, without any real heat,

 

"Awww.." The other two Teens said in sync, then Lafayette reached forward to pat John's cheek with both hands, "It's okay, Mon Ami, You, how you say, have my blessing."

 

"I don't know what you're talking about." He deadpanned, or tried to deadpan, as much as one could when they were blushing profusely and couldn't keep the small smile off their face,

 

"Of course you don't." Hercules actually successfully deadpanned, and John felt his face get warmer, if that was possible, "We'll come back to this later, though, because I have news."

 

"What news?" John asked, glad the conversation had turned away from him.

 

"Okay, so you both remember the Schuyler Sisters, right?"

 

John nodded his answer and Laf scoffed, "Of course. They moved less than two years ago, _Amour_."

 

The Schuyler Sisters are Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy. Angelica was the same age as him, and he had known her since they were both 7, Eliza being only a year younger and Peggy being another year younger. Some people found it weird for there to be such a small age gap between the three sisters, but it fit their dynamic completely.

 

Angelica was the oldest, and the wittiest. She was protective and she overall put her sisters first before anything else, even herself. You would never find anyone as kind as Eliza- Though, that didn't mean she was someone to fuck with, no. She could hold her own. Peggy, on the other hand, was twelve last time John saw her, and alternated between being quiet and shy and being the sassiest twelve year old ever.

 

As Lafayette had said, The Schuyler Sisters had moved to New York almost two years ago whenever their Dad, Philip Schuyler, became Senator Philip Schuyler. The new senator of New York.

 

"Well, I got a text from Angelica, she got a new phone by the way which is why she hasn't texted us, during last period saying that they're moving back." Herc said with a wide smile, and Lafayette made a sound that could only be described as a squeak, John retaining his happiness to a grin.

 

" _Really_?" The Frenchman exclaimed excitedly, "Oh, this is amazing! Just when Alex comes, too!"

 

"Did she say when?" John inquired, and Hercules took his phone from his pocket and fiddled with it for a moment before clearing his throat and reading,

 

" 'Hey! I really hope this is still your number, Hercules, or I'll be embarrassed AF,'" He said 'A' and 'F' as separate letters and John couldn't help but roll his eyes a little, "'Turns out none of us really like it much in NYC, so Dad talked to a few people and they said that, pause for dramatic effect, we can come home! You better be crying with joy or something, because this is big news. Dad says we'll be back in Virginia and starting school before the end of the month. So we'll see you and the other two revolutionaries soon. We expect tears to be shed upon our reunion xx -Angelica'"

 

"Before the end of the month?" Laf squeaked, "John, _Quelle est la date_?"

 

"Oh, uh, the date? There's... two weeks until Halloween, so it is the 17th."

 

Herc blinked at him, " _Dude_ , tell me that's not the way you're remembering the date."

 

"Of course it is. Halloween, man." John responded like it was the most normal thing in the world, because it was. How else would he remember the date?

 

"It's your birthday before that, Man, I'd think that would be how.."

 

"They'll be here for John's birthday and Halloween!" The French Teen interrupted, slamming his hands onto the table and standing up, "We're having a party." He declared dramatically, "To welcome them home, celebrate John's birthday and celebrate Halloween. We can mortally wound three birds with one rock."

 

"That's not.." Hercules started, then chuckled and shook his head fondly, "Sure, Laf. Sounds like a great idea."

 

And it did. The Schuyler Sisters were coming home.

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

George hummed to himself as he buttered the bread for the sandwiches he had declared to Alex he would be making for lunch, taking the ham out of the fridge and putting it onto the bread before cutting them into rectangles as Alex watched from the raised seats beside the counter, purposely ignoring the new medicine that George had insisted they buy 'just incase' sitting on the surface in front of him.

 

"My Mom used to cut my sandwiches into triangles," George was saying, "But my Nana always preferred rectangles, so she would take my triangular sandwiches and cut them down until they turned into rectangles, so I hope you're okay with that."

 

Alex nodded, "My Ma- My _Mom_ ," He corrected himself before he could say either 'Mama' or 'Maman', both of which he had almost trained himself out of saying in America for fear of causing annoyance but, having been near Lafayette, the self training was being worn away by the Frenchman's casual mixing of the languages, "She only ever cut sandwiches into rectangles, anyway."

 

"Smart woman." George hummed, then spun around and set a plate with four rectangular ham sandwiches in front of Alex, as well as a glass of Orange Juice, sitting down with his own sandwiches opposite him. They ate in silence, Alex ignoring how each bite of food felt like too much. Signing up for school had been much easier than he expected. The worst part had been sitting with the Principal- a man called Benjamin Franklin, who was a nice enough man with pale, grey-ish eyes that were hidden behind circular glasses, thin lips that seemed to constantly be set between a frown and a smile, and laugh lines beside his eyes and in the wrinkles on his rather large forehead. There was a few very short, extremely easy (At least to him) on-paper tests, then afterwards Alex had sat across from the man at his desk and tried to answer the stereotypical questions as politely as possible.

 

"What do you like to do?" He was asked at one point,

 

"I like to write." He had answered, getting one of the Principal's thin lipped smiles,

 

"Oh, is that so? _What_ do you like to write?"

 

"Anything." He had said honestly, "Everything."

 

"I see. Do you prefer essay style writing, or poetry?" Mr Franklin had asked next, and Alex had felt a smirk tug on the corners of his lips,

 

"I find that while I write mostly in an essay style, poetry has a way of working perfectly with any points that I might be making. Isn't that what poetry is, anyway? Expression?" He had said, and the Man's eyes had twinkled fondly while he nodded.

 

Alex was brought out of his recollection when George's phone rang loudly, causing him to jump slightly at the sudden noise.

 

"Sorry, Alex." He said apologetically, "This is probably a work thing. I should take this."

 

Alex nodded his approval, and George walked to the other side of the room, leaving him to wonder again what the man actually worked as. The name 'George Washington' was still achingly familiar, and it physically hurt that Alex couldn't quite grasp where he'd heard the name. For a moment, he considered taking his new phone out of his pocket and googling 'George Washington', but that would feel like cheating. He would feel more accomplished if he figured it out himself.

 

"So, You just _decided_ to come back?" George was saying, a smile on his face, "That's great! No, I know that isn't your intention," There was a small laugh in his voice before he continued, "Gil, John and Hercules will be ecstatic." And that caught Alex's attention, the boy perking up in his seat to listen closer, "Of course she has. When will you all be here? That soon? _Wow_ , well, be sure to drop by the house sometime, Martha and I would love to catch up with you. Yes, that too. Of course, Philip, she always has been. Alright, If I don't speak to you beforehand, have a good birthday. Goodbye."

 

George looked at Alex as he slid his phone back in his pocket and smiled when he caught the Teen's curious look, "An old friend. He moved to New York two years ago for work, and is moving back now with his three daughters."

 

That also seemed familiar to Alex. A man called Philip, who has three daughters and moved to New York for work. A lightbulb went of in his head and he blinked at how stupid he was. The man must have been-

 

" _Philip Schuyler_." He muttered out loud, "Senator of New York."

 

"Yes, that's him. How did you?-"

 

George was still talking, but Alex was no longer listening, the lightbulbs in his head still flickering on. Senators: New York, Philip Schuyler. South Carolina, Henry Laurens (This spiked an interest in him. He'd have to ask John if there was a relation, though he hoped there wasn't. Henry was very publically...well, a dick.) Virginia, George Washin-

Virginia, George Washington.

 

Fuck, he'd been living with a senator without even knowing. How had he not recognised who the man was sooner? When Alex first came to America, Washington was already a big supporter of equal rights. He had spoke up about immigration laws and even played a massive part in the legalisation of gay marriage, and Alex hadn't recognised that he was being fostered by him. Fuck.

 

"-Alex? Are you okay?" George asked softly, suddenly standing a few feet away from Alex with a concerned look on his face,

 

_"I'm an idiot."_ He thought out loud, too surprised to filter his own words as he dropped his head onto the cool marble surface of the counter, closing his eyes, " _Jesus_ , I'm such an idiot."

 

"I'm...not sure I know what you mean." The man sounded confused, "You aren't-"

 

"George Washington," Alex cut him off, not lifting his head or opening his eyes, " _Senator of Virginia_. I didn't even..."

 

There was a moment of silence, where Alex became aware of what he had actually said and raised his head so quick that stars filled his vision, his eyes wide as he opened his mouth to form an apology, pausing when he saw George's confused smile.

 

"You know who _I_ am?" He said softly, and Alex felt heat rise in his cheeks,

 

"I, um, I know the senators. I should've.. I recognised your name, but I couldn't tell where from. I..."

 

"Almost no kids your age know who the senators are, Alex. It's pretty impressive, even if it took you a few days to realise who I was." George said, sounding actually impressed, "How do you know the senators, anyway?"

 

He shrugged, eyes still trained like a hawk on George's, searching for any sign of anger, "I like to be well informed in politics. Though, I've...been less so in the last few months, I guess.." The other George, George King, hated politics. If Alex ever got access to the internet or Newspapers, and that was a very, very big 'if', then what he saw was often restricted.

 

"Not enough young people care about what's going on around them." Washington walked back to his seat and sat down, Alex's eyes following him carefully as he did so, "It's refreshing to see that you do."

 

Alex just shrugged, "It affects me." He said in lieu of a explanation. In truth, he could go on for hours about politics. He has such strong opinions that he would definitely try to be well informed even if it didn't affect him- He wasn't going to, but he could. In fact, he had filled entire notebooks with his opinions on politics.

 

"Exactly." George said simply, taking his orange juice and drinking half of the glass in one swallow, "Anyway, Alex, I will definitely bring up this topic in the future, but now I want to ask what you thought of the school?"

 

"It seems like a decent school," Decent was the best word he could say. It was a Typical American School, with a typically fucked up system, but some typical American schools are better than others, and this school seemed better than the other arrangements he had been in, so it was decent,

 

"It is. I've known Benjamin Franklin for years, he's an eccentric man, but he cares a lot about education." And that would be a pleasant change, as well, "And I think he definitely likes you," Alex furrowed his eyebrows slightly at this, "Yes, sorry, when he were alone he was saying that you had a spark. He teaches some AP English classes that he was saying he wanted to put you in. He also said he'd call me once your test scores were put through."

 

" _Oh_." He said softly, not sure what else to say. People didn't just...like him. There was always some other reason behind their 'like' that was usually not quite as nice. He was either too loud or too quiet. His only question now was, _'What reason did Benjamin Franklin have?'_

 

  
~~~*~~~

 

 

When Lafayette came home from school, he dumped his schoolbag at the door and raced into the kitchen, where George Washington was still sitting, the newspaper open in front of his and a cup of coffee in his hand. He set down both when he caught sight of his adopted son.

 

"I take it you heard?" He asked, and Lafayette nodded frantically,

 

"Uhm, _Oui_." He said like it was obvious,  "Angelica texted." He put both hands on the counter and leaned forward, "Papa, we are having a party."

 

"Oh, _are we_?" George said with a smile and a raised eyebrow, clasping his hands together on the counter in front of him,

 

"Mhm." Laf nodded, "You see, The Schuyler Sisters will be here for Halloween, so we can have three parties in one. Celebrating John's birthday as well as Welcoming Halloween and the Schuylers! We can even invite Monsieur Schuyler!"

 

George chuckled, "I'm not sure a party is Philip's scene," he paused, "But you can ask your Mom if a party is okay."

 

"But you support my decision, _no_?" The Frenchman quirked an eyebrow, grinning, and George held his hands up in surrender,

 

"I'm not saying anything until Martha does."

 

 

 

The next stop on Lafayette's excited rampage was Alex's room. After speaking to George, he rushed up the stairs and paused in front of the smaller Teen's room, knocking the door in a vaguely familiar tune,

 

"Alexander?" He called, voice cheerful, "May I come in, _Petit Lion_?"

 

Instead of replying, Alex just opened the door and looked up at Lafayette, the look in his eyes fading from worry to curiosity. While he was looking at Laf, Laf used the opportunity to look at him. He had his trademarked dark half circles under his eyes and although the set of his face made him seem tired and a little sickly, his eyes were alight. More so than they had been in the few days he had been here. It was... _marvelous_.

 

"Hello." Alex said softly, if not a little cautiously, stepping backwards into the room so Lafayette could come in, "How, uh, how was school?"

 

"Oh, brilliant! _Well_ , non, it was _boring_ , Mon Ami, terribly so, but then i got great news!" The Frenchman exclaimed, quickly taking in the room. The backpack that Alex had came with was open and a few closed notebooks were lying on the floor, a pen discarded beside them. He sat down on the newly made bed and grinned at the now even more curious Teen in front of him, "The Schuyler Sisters are coming home!"

 

Alex seemed to relax at this, some extra tension leaving his frame, though his cheeks did become a little pink, "I know."

 

"The Schuyler Sisters are- Wait, Pardon?" Laf paused, both eyebrows raised, "How?"

 

"Philip Schuyler called George." He replied, something...odd in his tone when he spoke, and Lafayette studied him for a moment,

 

"I'm sensing some...what's the word? " He pursed his lips, thinking, then smirked slightly, "Ah, yes, _embarrassment? Anger?_ At whom, might I ask?"

 

Alex huffed out a breath, shaking his head and kneeling down to put his notebooks in his backpack, "It's...nothing. I had a revelation." he paused, standing up again and closing his bedroom door, "Are you friends with the Schuyler Sisters?"

 

Of course Lafayette noticed the obvious change in subject, but he rolled with it. He didn't want to push Alex yet. "Oh, Oui! When I arrived in America, they were the ones to introduce me to John and Hercules!"

 

"Oh?" Alex prompted, sounding interested as he beside Laf on the bed, crossing his legs beneath him.

 

"Papa introduced me to Angelica first, because she is our age, Mon Ami, and then she introduced me to her sisters. Angelica had known John and Hercules for many years, so she invited all of us for one of her famous overnight sleep parties and we hit it off immediately."

 

"I see." Alex said with a small nod, and Lafayette sat up straighter as he realised something,

 

"You lived in New York, Yes?" He inquired, not waiting for a confirmation before continuing, "Surely you heard of Mes Amies!"

 

Alex nodded faintly, "I knew who they were. The, uh, the gossip in New York City is...insidious, though, so I prefer information that comes from a...reliable source."

 

Before replying, Laf took a moment to marvel at how much Alex was talking. Yes, it did seem like he was still holding back a large percentage of his words, but it was insane to think that only a few days ago his sentences had been way more clipped and stuttered out. He liked that the boy seemed to trust him enough with more of his words now, it warmed his heart to think that perhaps he was helping.

 

"Understandable." He said, then grinned again, "Anyway, we're having a party at the end of the month."

 

The Teenager in front of his seemed to tense up slightly more, but swallowed and spoke, "O-oh? What...What for? The _Schuylers_?"

 

Lafayette made a mental note of Alex's reaction, but didn't say anything about it, instead nodding, "Oui, Oui, and Halloween. And John. It is, how you say, a three in one."

 

"Halloween, _of course_." A look of realisation crossed his face and Lafayette gasped,

 

"Non, you did _not_ forget!" A guilty look answered his statement and he dropped backwards onto the bedsheets like a fainting maiden, hand pressed against his forehead, "Oh, Petit Alex, Halloween is like...Christmas! But, instead of Monsieur Santa Claus, It's Monsieur Jack Skellington. And instead of Christmas trees, it's corpses. And instead of Christmas dinner, it's candy!"

 

"I know what Halloween is, Laf," Alex said with an undertone of amusement, then continued meekly "I just...haven't been paying attention to the date."

 

That didn't seem right- that seemed sad. Was it sad? Plenty of people forget the date. But...Halloween!

 

"Well, you must pay attention now." Laf said with purpose, sitting up and morphing his face into a serious expression, "The 28th is John's birthday, so the party will be for that as well as Halloween and The Sisters."

 

They spoke for a while longer, Lafayette explaining the Halloween traditions he had picked up after years of living with the Washingtons and Alex admitting that he had never really had any traditions that stuck. When Lafayette was talking about carving pumpkins- or, more accurately, how John's pumpkins always looked best- Alex told him about how his Maman (Whenever Alex had said ' _Maman_ ' his voice had been wistful as he articulated the word almost absentmindedly, and Laf wondered how long it had been since he was able to speak his sentiments in whichever language he was comfortable with, instead of sticking to one just to appease others.) and him used to carve things like apples or turnips instead of pumpkins, because they were expensive on the island.

 

When Lafayette explained how every Halloween, John, Hercules and Him get together to watch horror movies in the living room all night and then told Alex that he was definitely going to be part of that from now on, Alex's eyes widened slightly in surprise and he answered with a small 'thank you' before admitting that the only horror movie he had ever seen was The Exorcist, and even as an eight year old he had found it boring. Lafayette had watched  The Exorcist with John and Herc only a few years ago, and he had been so terrified that he had to sleep in the same room as someone else for weeks. When he admitted this, Alex had let out a startled laugh and covered his mouth as if his own amusement surprised him. If it took his embarrassment to make Little Alex laugh, he would happily spend the rest of his night telling all of his embarrassing stories.

Unfortunately, he didn't have all night, because at 6:00pm on the dot, they were both called downstairs for dinner.

 

~~~*~~~

 

Martha walked into the kitchen to find her husband taking off oven mitts and smiling at her. She smiled back and set down her bag and car keys, leaning over to kiss him softly,

"How was work?" He asked when they separated, the glint  in his eyes showing Martha that while her husband was curious about her day, he also had something else he would like to talk about before he got so overwhelmed by it he exploded. The last time she saw that glint in full action, he had just been offered the job as Senator.

 

"Great, Honey. I think I've built up a strong case for the trial next week." She answered, purposely keeping her information summarized shortly, "Though, we _both_ know that the McCleur case isn't want you want to talk about." He huffed his 'you-know-me-so-well' laugh and she leaned against the counter in front of him, "What's going on?"

 

"Firstly, I got Alex some antibiotics that the doctor recommended for the flu, assuming that's what's going on. Then, school went well- Better than 'well', I'd say. Alex had a conversation with me in the car on the way about that new Justin Bieber Spanish song, then he seemed to be alright with seeing the school. He finished the tests in what was apparently record time." George paused, then smiled widely, "Ben said he likes him, by the way."

 

"Okay.." Martha said slowly, a smile spreading across her face as she spoke, "So to summarise: Antibiotics, Despacito, School went well, Benjamin Franklin likes him? That's.. _great_ , hon!"

 

Benjamin Franklin was... _not_ an easy man to impress. The man made his judgements of character during his first interactions with people, and stuck by them until he was proved wrong. For him to have so openly stated that he liked Alex on their first meeting made Martha beam with pride for her new son. And the fact that he must have opened up somewhat to George in order to find out what medicine was needed made it even better.

 

"I know, Mar, and then none other than the man himself, Philip Schuyler, called me and told me he and his daughters would all be back in town before the end of the month. But," He said quickly before Martha could respond, "As great as that is, that's not the best thing to draw from the phone call. I told Alex that it was 'Philip' who was moving back with his three daughters, and the boy figured out it was 'Philip Schuyler, Senator of New York' which led to him realising that I was a Senator and-"

 

"Wait. Slow down." Martha interrupted, chuckling at her husband's excited tone, "So, he likes politics?" She understood why George was happy. It was odd for Alex to recognise Philip Schuyler from his first name and the fact that he had three daughters- Well, the boy had been living in New York- But hadn't immediately recognised George Washington as the Senator of Virginia. It had been a rough, fast pace couple of days, though, so perhaps that explained it.

 

"I think he more than likes it. He seemed upset that he didn't immediately recognise me, and said that he knew the Senators, so i asked him how, and he said, quote unquote, 'I like to be well informed in politics.'!"

 

"I see. So, how long did you end up grilling him on what he knew?" Martha asked with a smirk, leaning further towards him, and George pretended to be offended by her question for a moment, before he gave up on this futile task.

 

"I didn't talk about it straight away!" He protested without any real passion, resigned to the fact that Martha was right as usual, "But, when we did speak, he listed the Senators he knew-- Which was all of them, by the way, and then we discussed the terms for the new Immigration acts I was trying to get passed to overrule the ones Mr Trump is floating." George paused here, and frowned lightly, "He has a lot of strong opinions that he clearly feels passionately about, but he did that... _thing_ again."

 

"The 'thing'?" Martha parroted, then blinked when he realised what he meant, her forehead creasing in worry, " _Oh_ , I see. I trust you acted accordingly?"

 

"Don't go all lawyer on me, Dear." George teased lightheartedly, "Anyway, when he stopped talking, I continued for him. Explained that his arguments were well put together and that I would bring them up at the next meeting."

 

"Were they actually-?"

 

"Oh, yes." Her husband said with an enthusiastic nod before she was even through with her sentence, "Amazingly so. Very professional." He breathed a small chuckle as he spoke his next words, "I made _notes_. They're in our room."

 

"That boy." Martha breathed with unfiltered awe, picking up the wooden spoon and pointing at him with it, "He's gonna change the world, George."

 

"You don't have to convince _me_ of that, Martha." George said with a sigh, taking the wooden spoon off of her and pointing at the ceiling, "We just have to convince Alex."

 

"I think.." She pursed her lips, watching her husband as he set the utensil down and crouched to look into the oven, before standing back up and retaining their eye contact, "I think that he _knows_ how smart he is, but he doesn't think he's allowed to show it. I think that, once upon a time, before his life went downhill, he would have spoke his opinions freely and articulately- Those rare moments we've seen where he speaks fast and sure about what he thinks, I think that used to be him all of the time. And I think I would like to hunt down whoever made him think he couldn't be himself anymore and _eviscerate them_." Her last words were calm with the undertone of a slight growl.

 

George nodded along with her as she spoke, a small frown line creasing his forehead, "I think you're right, Dear." He said softly, voice sad and mildly angry at the same time, though Martha knew that he was angry at the concept of Alex having his opinions taken away from him, not anything else. He cleared his throat then, and offered a small smile, "Dinner's almost done."

 

"That's great, love, What is it?" Martha questioned, then sniffed the air and grinned, "Pie. Chicken?" A nod from her husband confirmed this and her grin grew, "You, George Washington, are _amazing_." She said slowly, walking around the counter to press a kiss to his cheek, twining her arms around his neck as his hands rested on her waist, "I'll make dinner for the next few nights, and then we'll get back on schedule."

 

"Sounds great." He admitted, dropping his head down as she tilted hers up so their foreheads met. For a few moments, they just stood like that, content to just be holding each other, then George pressed a kiss to her forehead, smiling, "Gil and Alex have been upstairs talking to each other for a while now."

 

"About what?" Martha questioned.  She was glad that Alex had found friends in her other son and his gang of troublemakers so soon after arriving with them, since she was sure that it would take him longer to warm up to any one else. Including, perhaps, herself and her husband.

 

"At first, Gil was informing Alex that the Schuylers were coming home- And his plans for when that happens, I think, but as I was passing an hour ago, they were talking about Halloween."

 

"His plans?" At her husband's look, she took a step back and raised an eyebrow before sighing, " _Party_?"

 

" _Party_." George confirmed. Martha rolled her eyes, but not because she didn't think a party was good idea- she did, but rather because she wasn't sure their house would be able to survive The Schuyler Sisters AND Gilbert, John and Hercu- And Alex. Oh, that poor boy was going to have to be subject to all six of the other Teens at their most excited. George seemed to have came to the same conclusion as her, and he nodded slowly when he must have noticed that her train of thought was on course with his, "Alex, right? Don't worry, Dear, I think he may be comfortable enough with Laf to handle just one of his 'Parties'- And if he does gets uncomfortable, at least it's in our house so he can go to his room for privacy."

 

"You raise a good point." Martha said, then grinned when the smell of pastry in the air thickened, "And we will revisit it later whenever our dinner isn't about to burn." George cursed under his breathe and grabbed the oven mits, bending over to take the pie out as Martha began to set the table. She looked over her shoulder to see George's back facing her as his arm moved smoothly up and down, cutting the pie, before making her way to the bottom of the staircase and calling,

 

_"Boys, Dinner is ready!"_

 

~~~*~~~

 

"-And then the teacher had the audacity to say that I was using incorrect grammar!" Lafayette ranted, pausing to shove pie in his mouth before continuing, "Like... _Excusez-moi, fausse femme française!_ Which of us is _actually_ from France?"

 

The table erupted in small hums of agreement from both Martha and George, who were obviously used to these kinds of situations at the dinner table. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Alex wondered if he would be here long enough to ever have these kind of casual, comfortable conversations with the family. Before this thought was even finished being thought, it was already being dismissed as unrealistic by the more rational part of his brain.

 

"So I, very politely, explained that she was wrong and I was right." The Frenchman continued, swallowing his pie and taking a drink of his lemonade, "When I told her French was indeed my native tongue, she was _very_ embarrassed."

 

"I would imagine so." Martha said in agreement, pausing in her eating before she spoke, unlike Lafayette, "And It was her first day?"

 

"Oui." Laf confirmed, and Martha made a sympathetic noise.

 

Alex tuned himself out of the conversation after that, instead focusing on cutting up the remaining half of his pie into the smallest sized pieces he could manage, his own (vain) attempt at keeping his stomach settled by consuming smaller bits of food. As odd as that sounded, he did have some half-competent logic behind the idea. His thought was that if the food was smaller, it would be broken down faster in his stomach and then, in turn, absorbed faster into his bloodstream, leaving less food to potentially be thrown up the next morning if that was going to become a daily thing. His hypothesis was on the road to being debunked when he swallowed the fourth very mini fork-full of creamy pie- reducing his pie to one third of it's original size and his stomach was already beginning to painfully protest, making him regret any of the other food he had reluctantly agreed to eat during the day.

 

Giving up on the pie, he instead took his own glass of lemonade in both hands and brought it to his lips, drinking almost half of the glass within a few seconds.

 

"So, Alex..." Lafayette said, and Alex raised his head to look at the other Teenager to show he was paying attention, "Are you starting school tomorrow?"

 

"Yes," He said, then paused, glancing at George and then back at Laf, "I think."

 

"Yes, you are." George confirmed, and Alex felt himself perk up slightly. Words couldn't describe the relief he felt when he thought of the fact that he was now officially enrolled in an actual school. This alone would be enough to please him, but the fact that he would actually know people in said school that at least acted like they liked him. He only hoped that their act, and that is what he believed it was, an act, extended to school, otherwise it could complicate things terribly. He could deal with it, of course, he could take any sudden cruelness in his stride and not let them get in the way of his education, but he would prefer not to have to as much as usual.

 

"Are you taking any languages?" Lafayette questioned, smirking slightly. For a moment, Alex just studied his face to see if the smirk was a good or bad thing. When he found good natured amusement in the Teen's eyes, he figured that Laf was smirking because he had guessed that, yes, Alex had indeed decided to take Spanish in order to get an easy A. At first, he had considered taking French instead, because he didn't look like the kind of person who spoke it, but inevitably decided that Spanish would be a better choice.

 

"Yes, Spanish." He admitted, ducking his head but looking through his eyelashes at Laf and half-smirking back at him,

 

"For a, how you say, Easy A? John is doing the same thing." Lafayette said with a small laugh, his eyes meeting Alex's and his smile widening when he saw the secret look on his face,

 

"You kids." Martha huffed, though her tone was light and pleased,

 

"I hear the school is offering German now." George suggested, "You could have.. What?"

 

Lafayette's lips pulled into a thin, goofy-looking smile and his eyes held Alex's gaze across the table. Seeing that Lafayette was purposely leaving the very short, uninteresting tidbit of information for him to tell, he did.

 

"There was a, uh, German lady on the island." Alex began softly, sitting back in his chair, a little relieved for the distraction from the pressure in his stomach, "She tried to teach me German, but I, uh, didn't care for it."

 

"You aren't saying you speak German too?" Martha said, eyes widening fractionally,

 

"Oh, no. No, I'm not." Alex amended quickly, feeling embarrassment rise in his throat for reasons unknown to him. Except, he _did_ know. The familiar feeling of inadequacy was kicking his need to prove himself into overdrive. Martha would be prouder if he was smarter. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that, he had always been smarter than most of the people he knew- Adult or his age. But despite this, he knew he needed to be smarter. To learn more. To prove himself and make people believe in him.

 

"Petit Lion did not tell you the best part of his tale." Lafayette smugly said, and for a moment Alex was confused about what he meant, but by the time he remembered, the other boy was still speaking, "Mon Ami did not believe in the language of German, so he made sure other's did not either."

 

"What do you mean?" George pondered, fork raised half way to his mouth, forgotten, and his gaze on Alex.

 

"He made others think it wasn't real." Laf finished so Alex didn't have to, for which the Teen was grateful. Words were for some reason failing him.

 

"Impressive." George said softly, smiling at him,

 

"I have a hunch that you secretly liked the language." Martha put in playfully, leaning forward on her elbows,

 

Alex deliberated that for a moment. It was true. Martha was...smart. For another few moments, he remained silent as he dug through his limited memory of the German vocabulary, eventually coming up with a shrug and a mild, "Ein wenig."

 

" _Knew it_." Martha said with a grin, setting down her fork and sitting back, whereas Lafayette was already speaking in rapid fire French- saying something about Alex downplaying his knowledge, which he wasn't doing. No one could grow up with a German lady and not learn something.

 

"You know, Alex, you never cease to amaze me." George said quietly, a kind smile on his face.

 

When Alex went to bed that night and took the pills that George had bought him, the warmth that bloomed in his chest at that comment followed him and stayed buried behind his heart when he finally drifted off to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, so, funny thing...  
> I've had this completed since the start of December, but I had this crazy idea to upload it on Christmas day, (which ended up not happening anyway, sorry) so I waited and then kinda forgot and now cut to the 28th of December when I opened my laptop and saw the file :/  
> I'm sorry! Thanks for sticking with my lazy ass up to here <3
> 
> Oh, Also...  
> Excuse me, fake frenchwoman! - Excusez-Moi, fausse femme française!  
> Ein wenig - A little (?)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool ((and also a TW kinda for some panic attack fun near the end :/ )))

The first thing that Alex became aware of when he woke up was a soft voice- not, not just a soft voice, it was Lafayette's voice. And he was singing the words 'Wake up!' repeatedly...in French... to the tune of Frère Jacques.

 

" _Réveille-Toi, Réveille-Toi, Ré-veille-Toi? Ré-veille-Toi_?" The Frenchman's voice was pitched quiet enough to be considered a whisper, and he wasn't actually a terrible singer. His voice was familiar enough to stave off any panic that could have surfaced from being woken up by another person.

 

" _Je suis debout_ ," Alex informed Laf that he was awake, mumbling into his pillow, sounding considerably more crackly than the other teen, having just woke up. Then, when his awareness returned to him, he rolled onto his back, ignored the twinge of familiar pain, and was momentarily amazed at the lack of his usual nauseous feeling, before opening his eyes to the sight of a smiling Lafayette with his wild curly hair unbound and unrestrained. Before any other words were exchanged, Alex flung his legs over the other side of the bed and started to climb out, sending out a silent prayer that the nausea would stay away at least until Laf left, "What time is it?"

 

_"Showtime_!" Lafayette whisper shouted, turning on the lamp beside the bed. Alex turned to face him and saw that he was still in deep blue pajamas that looked like..

 

"Are you...wearing silk pajamas?" Alex asked, voice rough, rubbing a hand over his eyes and squinting at Lafayette,

 

"Oui. Very comfortable. Last night felt like a blue night, and my blue pajamas happen to be silk." He dismissed, striding across the room to the drawer where Martha had, despite Alex's insistence that it wasn't necessary, put his new clothes and beginning to look through it, "First day of school, Mon Lion, are you excited? _Anxious_? You can always stay home.."

 

"No!" Alex said, sounding almost insulted, before his eyes widened and shit that was rude, "I-I mean I'm excited, I want to go to school, Laf.."

 

To his surprise, Laf chuckled, pulling out a white top and then continuing to rummage through the other clothes, "I apologise, Alexander, I did not mean offense. Most people just prefer more time to settle in, though I should have remembered you were different than most, oui?"

 

"I suppose so." Alex mused, coming to stand beside Lafayette and watching him pull out jeans and then pause, "What...What are you doing?"

 

"Picking your clothes, Mon Ami, You are amazing, but I don't trust your, how you say...Style." Laf said with a smirk in Alex's direction, "Now, red jacket, blue jacket, green jacket, or...I have this purple one that-"

 

"Lafayette," Alex said softly, interrupting the other teen, "Purple isn't my colour. I...like the dark-ish blue zip up hoodie with the red strings.."

 

"Ah, oui, and the zip that looks gold. Good choice, perhaps I'll let you choose tomorrow." He winked playfully as he set the clothes down and clapped his hands together, _"D'accord_ , I'll see you after you shower." And with that, he left, leaving Alex slightly dazed and confused at the events that had just occurred.

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

After Alex had showered, miraculously not thrown up, changed into the clothes Lafayette had chose and was in the process of towel drying his hair with one hand and trying to brush his teeth with the other, there were six rhythmic knocks on his door to signify someone was there before said doors flew open and Lafayette entered, wearing strategically ripped skinny jeans and a long sleeved yellow t-shirt, a black jacket slung over his arm and his hair pulled back into a poofy bun.

 

"Petit Lion, you look great!" He said with a grin, and Alex stopped towelling his hair, turning slightly away from Laf so he could spit the toothpaste into the sink, before turning back and smiling slightly at him and using the washcloth to wipe excess toothpaste foam from around his mouth,

 

"You too, Laf.." He replied with a small sheepish smile, turning on the tap to wash away the toothpaste and putting his toothbrush under the water as well,

 

"I know, Mon Ami, I was texting Angelica last night and Peggy gave me permission to wear yellow, so I had to."

 

Alex paused, pushing some hair out of his face and tilting his head in slight confusion, "Does Peggy-"

 

"Own yellow?" Lafayette finished, "Oui. Each of The Schuyler Sister's have a signature colour. Angelica is pink, Eliza is _bleu_ , and Peggy is yellow. Angelica and Eliza are less...uh, how you say, _possessive_? Oui, Angelica and Eliza are less possessive with their colours than Peggy is, so we usually ask permission."

 

"To wear yellow?" Alex repeated, brow furrowed, and Lafayette nodded, "Ah, Naturally."

 

"Oui, Oui.." Laf said with a small laugh, waving his hand in a 'That's not important' gesture, "We have some time before school, George is at his work but Martha is going to drop us at school in a half of an hour on her way to her work. So you must come and eat breakfast with me beforehand."

 

The mention of food made a small tendril of nausea surface deep in Alex's stomach, but he forced it down and nodded, only pausing to pick up his backpack before following Lafayette out the door and down the stairs. Today had to be good. It had to.

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

Walking up to the school with Lafayette this time was different than it had been when he was with George. This time, he would be staying for the entire school day, and would be present in actual lessons.

  
Up to this point, Alex had just been excited. Immeasurably so. Now, however, as he walked into the school building with Lafayette by his side he could feel anxiety and nervousness deep in his stomach like a perfect imitation of the nausea he was more familiar with. It was strange, yet completely justifiable. With George, he was just being shown around. Now, however, he was going to be interacting. With other humans- with teenagers. And teachers, who would (inaccurately) believe themselves superior to him purely because he is a little younger and smaller than them. 

 

_Whatever_ , it just meant his mind hadn't began to degenerate yet.

 

"Oh, Mon Lion, we must go to the office and get your schedule, oui?" Lafayette said, clapping his hands together once and then jerking his head with an easy smile, inviting Alex to follow him as they started to walk to the office.

 

"Jeez, I thought we were the ones who were usually late- _Hey_!" John greeted them when they stepped into the reception area, Hercules standing beside him with a bemused smile. "We've been here for like, a whole two minutes, guys."

 

"Oh, my most _sincere_ apologies, John. I forgot that _Votre Majesté_ did not like to be kept waiting." Lafayette teased back, giving an over-exaggerated bow that had Alex stifling a laugh and Hercules letting his out loudly, while John just grinned and then lifted his chin,

 

"That's Queen Vo-whatever-majesty to you, Gilbert." He said with a terrible British accent. Even if it was the worst, corniest, fakest accent ever, Alex still froze up, backpack slipping from his shoulder until he caught the strap in his hand, eyes snapping out of habit between both of John's hands and then searching his facial features. Empty hands, calm face- not scary-calm, though, more natural- and relaxed posture. Not a threat. _Thank God._

  
He jumped slightly when Lafayette's hand made contact with his shoulder, but then turned and relaxed again when he realised it was just Lafayette, offering the concerned looking Teen a small sheepish smile and then tuning back into the conversation.

 

"-So you'd _never_ be Queen. You don't have the fashion sense to run a country." Hercules was saying, leaning against the (not currently occupied) reception desk, and John scoffed,

 

"I wouldn't run a whole country! Maybe just like a small town? A street corner, maybe?" Hercules shook his head with a fake forlorn expression and John muttered a 'gosh darn it' that had Lafayette giggling.

 

" _Mr Hamilton_!" Alex turned to see Benjamin Franklin in a blue suit and red tie, a smile on his face as he walked towards them, nodding his head in greeting, "Mr Laurens, Mr Mulligan, Monsieur Lafayette."

 

The three teens seemed to object to this.

 

"Monsieur Franklin, I insist you call me Lafayette." Lafayette began, just as John said,

 

"Yeah, we've known each other forever. Y'can just call me John, Sir, or Laurens if you're feeling _edgy_ -" He started, but Hercules cleared his throat,

 

"Same here, Principal Franklin, but with 'Hercules', not 'John' or 'Laurens', and I would _never_ use the word 'edgy'."

 

Alex didn't object, though. Strangely, he liked being called by his last name- With a 'Mr' in front or not.

  
In his experience, people called him 'Hamilton' whenever they were either feeling challenged by him, or when they wanted to add a dramatic flair to a conversation. Then when people called him 'Mr Hamilton' it could either just be out of formality or respect. He, on the other hand, occasionally had different reasons for calling people by their last names.  Either way, none of his foster parents had ever called him by his surname, so it was safe. He liked it.

 

"Alright, boys. Mr Hamilton," He directed his faint smile at Alex then, having obviously noted his lack of objection, and fixed his circular glasses as he held out a sheet of paper, "Your schedule."

 

"Thank you, sir." Alex said as he reached out to take it with the hand not grasping his bag, meeting his new principal's eyes accidentally and being almost surprised by the way the man's bright eyes suddenly seemed analytical,

 

"You're welcome." Was all Mr Franklin said as he stood up straight but kept Alex's gaze. The smaller teenager knew that it would probably be smart to look away now, but Benjamin Franklin had a hidden challenge in his gaze and however cracked Alex's person may be, he had rarely ever been able to back away from a challenge. So, instead of looking away, he tilted his head back very slightly to comfortably meet the man's eyes, cocking it to the side a little.

 

"Principal Franklin, Monsieur," Lafayette said with amusement in his voice, and both Alex and Benjamin Franklin slid their gazes to him, "You cannot see in Mon Petit Lion's soul through his eyes, _**even if they are very pretty**_." He said the last part in French, tone teasing.

 

Alex blushed slightly as Mr Franklin chuckled, "Laf, **_there is a time and a place_**.." He muttered, also in French, but with no real heat, tucking his folded schedule into his bag,

 

"Ah, Oui, Monsieur Lafayette, **perhaps wait a _few_ minutes**." The principal agreed warmly, surprising Alex with the use of French.

 

"Guys," John groaned, before hastily adding, "And, uhm, Sir. Please. No extended French."

 

"Please." Hercules added, and Benjamin Franklin laughed,

 

"Get to class please, Boys." He said warmly, and gave a wave before walking out of the room to a chorus of goodbyes from the boys.

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

"One of my favourite old people." Lafayette was saying as they walked through the hall toward the homeroom class that they shared, "Monsieur Franklin is, how you say, a secret badass."

 

"We've heard this, like, _eight_ times." John commented quietly to Alex, then put on a terrible French accent, " 'My favourite man. I love Monsieur Franklin. I would have Monsieur Franklin's babies-'"

 

"One time, John!" Laf interrupted, having been listening in, "I said that once!"

 

"Twice." Hercules corrected, and Alex couldn't help but huff out a laugh at the look of betrayal on Lafayette's face.

 

 

~~~*~~~

Their teacher for homeroom was inattentive, luckily for Alex, and called his name in the role call without feeling the need to introduce him to the class, allowing Alex a (relatively) calm period of comparing timetables with the other three boys. (He and John had Art, Debate, AP English, Math and Spanish together. He and Lafayette had Math, PolSci, AP History and Chemistry together and He and Hercules had Physics, Debate, Math and AP History together. Alex found himself getting relatively excited about having at least one of them in most of his classes. It might be nice to _(possibly)_ have some people on his side.)

 

"It kind of sucks that the only subject all four of us have together is... _Math_." Lafayette gave a small shudder at the word, as if it physically pained him to force the syllable out of his mouth.

 

"Oh, shut up." John muttered, elongating the syllables as he shoved a piece of chewing gum in his mouth, "You know you're great at math."

 

"He always complains, but he's frickin' math god sometimes." Hercules explained to Alex, rolling his eyes fondly as Laf pretended to swoon at the compliment,

 

"Exactly. You shoulda heard him after the last test _'Ooh the last question was obviously a mix of Pythagoras and Trigonometry'_ " John added in a poor French accent, waving his hand to add to his point, "Or some shit."

 

"So it was triangles?" Alex asked, deadpan, eyebrow raised slightly,

 

"Really fuckin' difficult triangles!" Hercules defended and John hummed in agreement,

 

"Pfft," Lafayette turned to Alex, "Most of the triangles just had missing angles."

 

"Oh, I see. So they were not just triangles, but really fuckin' _simple_ triangles?" Alex questioned and Lafayette laughed, Herc and John both grumbling, though they were trying to hide smiles, letting Alex know he hadn't actually offended them.

 

"They were off on the day we revised trigonometry, Mon Ami, so I let them complain." Laf reasoned,

 

"Did you learn them in your last school?" John asked Alex, who bit the inside of his lip slightly as he thought of when he had actually learned trig.

 

"No," He said finally, the arches of his cheekbones flushing slightly, not wanting them to think he was trying to show off as he admitted, "I, uh, taught myself back on the island..."

 

All three of the other boys sat up straight at this, eyebrows raised in surprise. Alex, on the other hand, shrunk down in his seat.

 

"What age were you?" John asked, and Alex shrugged, mentally going through his timeline. He remembered showing his Maman- his Mom what he had taught himself at the kitchen table using books he had borrowed ( 'borrowed ) from the library, with his Dad leaning over his shoulder. So...before anyone left..

 

 

_"-And people remember it with the acra- the acronym 'SOH CAH TOA'." He had said, pointing at the neat notes on his page with his short fingers, his Maman nodding along with a smile, "See, Maman? Because Sin is Opposite over Hypotenuse, Cos is Adjecent over Hypotenuse, and Tan is Opposite over Adjacent, and_ Voilà _,_ trigonométrie _!"_

 

_"That's amazing, mon chéri!" Maman said softly, and Alexander beamed with pride, "Dieu, Ton esprit, Miel.."_

 

_"Wonder who he gets that from, huh?" His Dad said, leaning over both of their shoulder's to look at the page, pecking Maman's cheek on the way down, questioning, "Does this count as long Mathematics?"_

 

_Alexander shrugged, almost in sync with his Maman,_

 

_"Well, Kid, You're no Div." His father said, Scottish accent lilting more into the foreign sounding word, patting Alexander's shoulder gently._

 

  
Alex shook his head slightly to get rid of the memory, sniffing a little, "Eight or nine?" He guessed, then nodded, "Uh, yeah, around then."

 

"Holy shit, Alex." Hercules muttered, leaning back with a soft chuckle,

 

"That's insane!" John added,

 

"When I was eight, all I did was get lost in the forest." Lafayette admitted, Alex shrugged,

 

"I...guess I didn't live close enough to any large amounts of trees." He joked quietly, then coughed into his hand, "No, I, _uh_ , I enjoy learning."

 

"Illegal." Hercules accused, "At eight, the only learning you're allowed to enjoy is those shitty seven page books with the key thing in every story."

 

"What." John said flatly, one eyebrow raised very, very high,

 

"You know, with the dog and the blonde kid in a red and white top?" Herc tried, looking less confident,

 

"Oh, Mon trésor, I think that may be another thing from your Maman and Papa." Laf said comfortingly, patting Herc's knee softly,

 

"How do you mean?" Alex wondered out loud, tilting his head slightly to the side, glad the attention was off him.

 

"He's _Irish_." John explained, Hercules nodding and continuing,

 

"My parent's came here when I was a baby, so I'm mostly saved from the Irish-ness, but yeah, I'm from _Coleraine_ in _County Derry-Londonderry_ ," He rolled his eyes here, "Or whatever I'm supposed to call it. The tension and shit between Unionists and Nationalists there sucks."

 

"I've heard as much." Alex agreed nodding, meeting Hercules' eyes, "My Dad told me about it occasionally."

 

"Oh, Is he Irish aswell?" Lafayette asked, looking very eager, leaning forward in his chair,

 

"Scottish." Alex corrected with a shake of his head, "Very opinionated. Very..." He trailed off, blinking down at the desk, lips pursed as he tried to remember the word, cheeks reddening with embarrassment, "Uh...Loyalist, I think. Yes, very Loyalist."

 

"Ah, I get you, Man." Hercules said, gesturing to Alex with his water bottle, "My parents can be like that. They still celebrate on the Twelfth of July."

 

Alex shook his head, stifling a smile. No one had spoke about the Ulster Protestant celebration to him since his father left.

 

"The Twelfth," John said slowly,

 

"That is the one with the Dutch guy, yes?" Lafayette added, eyebrow furrowed, "Orange Man?"

 

_"Good ol' King Billy."_ Hercules confirmed with exaggerated enthusiasm, playing up an Irish accent.

 

"Uh, question," John interrupted, raising a hand, "Am I the only one with no clue what the fuck is going on?"

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

_"What the fuck is going on?"_ John groaned quietly, then not so quietly banged his head against the table, a routine that everyone in the AP English class knew well, judging by the muttered ' _Every_ _time_ 's and scattered snickers.

 

"Yes, Mr Laurens, We know you dislike analysation but it's part of the course." The teacher, Mrs Brown, said patiently.

 

Alex looked down at the desk and smiled, chewing the inside of his cheek. For the first ten minutes of the lesson, John had been muttering disdainfully under his breath while they analysed Muhammad Ali's speech after his Rumble In The Jungle victory with the intention to later compare it to some English tennis player's more boring speech. It was amusing hearing the other Teen complain about Ali's 'Goddamn colloquial shit' being the only thing that he could see, even when Alex tried to explain that 'Attention' was an Imperative verb or that it started with tag questions, John insisted that there was only colloquial language.

 

"I love Ali, and I can deal with analysing," John started, when everyone else was bent over in pairs working together, "But knowing I'll have to write some bullshit essay including that bullshit tennis player that lost Wimbledon. He lost. Not Wimble-Win, Wimble-lose."

 

Alex huffed out a breath of amusement, shaking his head, "It's not that bad, considering how different the two interviews are. Easy to contrast, not to compare."

 

"You can say that, I'm pretty sure you're, like, a god at all things education." John complained, and Alex barely restrained from rolling his eyes,

 

"I'm not good at 'all things education'." He pointed out, strangely mild, "I'm just good at what I'm good at."

 

"Alex, _sweetie, honey, dearest_ ," John turned in his seat so they were face to face, "I have known you for, like, a weekend, and even I know that you're probably smarter than every teacher in this school."

 

Alex felt the heat rise slightly in his face as he searched his mind for an appropriate response, only to be saved by the teacher clearing her throat loudly,

 

"If you could hold off on subtly dissing me and my colleagues, Mr Laurens, I would appreciate it." She said, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised.

 

"I'm sorry, Mrs Brown," John started, smiling sweetly at her, "I didn't mean to diss _you_."

 

Mrs Brown chuckled, "Back to work, Mr Laurens, Mr Hamilton."

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

" _Who are you_?" A girl, taller than him with dark hair and a curious face, asked while he tried to remember the way to Math, having just been in Geography. She was walking beside him as he continued to make his way down the hall, not put off, even by the crowded hallway, from her task of finding out who he was.

 

"Alex Hamilton." He relented, glancing up at her,

 

"You're new." The girl stated not so much as asked, " _Oh_ , I'm Kitty!" She added hastily, tucking her hair behind her ear, "Uh, Kitty Livingston."

 

The name seemed vaguely familiar to him, but since he couldn't place where it was from, Alex settled for shaking her outstretched hand, "It's nice to meet you, Kitty Livingston."

 

"You too, Alex Hamilton." Kitty said warmly, "I'm going out on a limb here, but would you happen to be the same Alex that one John Laurens just spent a period gushing about?"

 

Alex huffed out a breath of laughter and ignored the blush spreading up his neck, "Uh, it's possible?"

 

"Wait, stop walking." Her voice was firm, and Alex immediately stopped walking, mentally cursing himself for it and then flinching slightly when both of her hands found his cheeks and tilted his head back so she could stare intensely into his eyes, holding his face firmly and tilting it to change perspective. His heart was hammering inside his chest as he tried- and failed to interpret what she was going to do, fear climbing his throat. Suddenly, the hands on his face were not that of a teenage girl, but instead they were the larger, colder hands of one George King.

 

"He was right. I can see it.." Kitty murmured, then swore under her breath when she realised that Alex's eyes were wide out of panic, not to give her a better view, and he didn't seem to be breathing, " _Shit_!" She let go of his face quickly and clasped her hands together, holding them under her chin, "Oh, Jesus, I am _so_ sorry. People tell me I should think before I act because I'm too, you know, _handsy_ , and I literally just met you. This is the worst first impression, _oh_ -"

 

The rest of her words were drowned out by the other voices growing louder in Alex's head. The hallway was still full of people and it was too much. Too loud. There wasn't enough air. There wasn't enough room. He needed to get out. He needed to..

 

" _Go_. I need to.." He swallowed, not meeting the teenage girl's eyes as he started walking away, "Sorry."

 

Kitty called after him when he pushed through the crowd in a blind run, but her words were lost in the hurricane of his mind.

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

" _Guys_!" Kitty Livingston called as she pushed through several people, breathing heavily as if she had been running.

 

Hercules, Lafayette and John, who had been just about to walk into Math together, having met up at the door, all spun around.

 

"Kitty, ma amie!" Lafayette called, smile faltering when he noticed the uncommon worry set in the girl's face, "What is wrong?"

 

"It's...Alex." She said, swallowing visibly and turning her head to the side,

 

"Alex?" John asked, his face now matching the worry on Kitty's, "Kit, What happened with Alex? Is he-"

 

"Okay, so I saw him in the hallway and I thought, 'I've never seen him here before because I would _definitely_ remember that.' and I was talking to him and then I realised he could be John's Alex, so I asked and he said yes and I wanted to know if his eyes really had that thing the way you described them-"

 

"The point, _please_ , Kitty." John interrupted loudly, cheeks reddening,

 

"Right." She said apologetically, then continued in a rush, "So I, _maybe, kinda,_ put my hands on his face without saying anything because I am a terrible, terrible idiot and he backed away and he was like panicking and then he ran and I didn't know what to do so I came here."

 

" _Shit_." Hercules muttered,

 

" _Merde_." Lafayette repeated with equal feeling,

 

"Where, Kitty?" John asked, in his scary calm voice, slinging his backpack back over his shoulders,

 

"Towards the science block.." Kitty answered, head turned slightly down in shame, "I-I'm _real_ sorry, guys, I didn't think..."

 

"It's okay, Kit," Hercules answered as he and Laf also put their backpacks on properly, "You didn't know."

 

"Yeah, but I-"

 

"Kitty, we forgive you, even if I'm a little cheesed off and Laf is in full mom mode and Herc is also in mom mode, but we gotta run." John said with a forced, small smile, before taking off with the other three teens.

 

 

~~~

 

 

"I should have known it might have been too early for him to return to school." Laf said dejectedly as they walked briskly towards the science block,

 

"Not your fault." John muttered, craning his neck to look down the hallway, "He's stubborn."

 

"Yeah, he wouldn't stay home, you know that." Hercules soothed, "Are we checking the bathroom?"

 

"Yes." John answered, then took a shaky breath, "We should have been with him." He said for the third time,

 

"I wish we could've been, but we weren't." Hercules answered, "Because none of us are in his Geography class."

 

_"I wish we were."_ Laf muttered unhappily, before rushing forward to push open the bathroom door and calling, "Petit Lion?"

 

There was no response, so the three boys ventured further into the room, looking around to see only one stall closed. Upon noticing this, John tilted his head down to listen, and caught the quiet sound of hitched breathing, prompting him to move further in and leaning down to see the black and white converse shoes that Alex had been wearing, at an angle that confirmed he was on the ground. Catching Lafayette and then Hercules' attention, John nodded to confirm it was definitely Alex.

 

"Laf." He whispered, so quiet he may as well have just mouthed it, " _You_."

 

Lafayette nodded, understanding what John meant. For some reason, Alex had decided he trusted Laf, and they needed trust right now.

 

"Uh, Alexander?" He tried softly, moving to stand outside the stall, pausing for a moment and then speaking gently, "Petit Lion, you're safe. No one is going to hurt you." The silence that followed was interrupted by the sound of Alex's stuttering breaths, definitely not deep enough for him to get any air into his lungs, _"Respire pour moi, s'il te plaît, Alexander. In, Un deux trois, Out, Un deux trois..."_

 

When nothing changed, Hercules tapped Lafayette on the shoulder, "We gotta get in, Laf." He said solemnly,

 

The Frenchman nodded once and then bit his lip, waiting for John to nod his approval before looking between his two entry points. Over or under.

 

Under. But-- he wasn't an acrobat. Could he fit under? No.

 

"John, you have to crawl under." He said seriously, words in a rush, original fake calm wearing off, " _Please_."

 

John didn't want to make it worse, but he also really, really needed to help Alex be alright, like, yesterday. So, before he could second guess himself, he got onto the ground and wormed his way under the door and into the stall, trying awkwardly not to touch Alex in the small space as he got in. When he looked up, he saw Alex sitting shaking against the stall wall his legs pulled to his chest and held tightly in his arms, his head hidden in them with his brown hair spread. Small, almost silent gasps for air were mixing with incoherent words and occasional small flinches that broke John's heart.

 

"John?" Lafayette whispered, and John reached deftly to unlock the stall, still watching Alex with sad eyes.

 

When the door drifted open, the other two boys' eyes drifted down to Alex, twin looks crossing their faces. After a moment of silent stillness, they all moved into action at once.

"Okay. We know the guidelines to dealing with this, right?" Hercules started, and the other two nodded,

 

" _No_ touching. This seems too extreme to be just a panic attack- even a big one. I'd say flashback of some sort." John swallowed, "In that case we'd need to somehow get through to him. Get him to breathe deep, let him know what's real and not, sometimes PTSD sufferers have learned to quickly get out of flashbacks, so it can take anywhere from minutes to hours before the flashback stops..."

 

"What kind of doctor do you want to be again?" Lafayette pondered, sounding impressed, before kneeling in front of Alex in the confined space, "Alexander, It's Lafayette." The Frenchman started softly, "Can you listen to my voice, please, _Petit Lion_? Can you breathe for me?" After a moment, he repeated himself, in French this time, adding words that John assumed were their surroundings and definitely Alex's name, and after a few minutes of this, John noticed that Alex's panicked breaths seemed to have more effort behind them. They were still too shallow- cutting off too soon, but Alex was trying. He could hear them.

 

"That's good, Alex." John praised, "It's...It's John. _Laurens_. Keep breathing...Are you with us?" He asked, then hastily added, "If you can't speak, you can nod?"

 

Almost a full minute of silence later, just when John thought Alex wasn't going to respond, he noticed the smaller teen's head move slightly, barely visible through the shaking, "I.." Alex tried, voice croaky and barely there, cut off by a shaky gasp, head still mostly hidden in his knees.

 

"You don't need to talk, man..." Hercules said softly, then turned to John and mouthed 'water', gesturing at the door and awaiting John's nod before leaving quietly to get Alex water.

 

"Alexander," Lafayette started, then frowned when he saw Alex physically recoil from the name in a way he hadn't done yet- at least not in front of John, "Alex..." He corrected, a little more sadly, "May I...May I hold your hand? You do not have to say yes, _Lion_.." He rushed to add, and John watched as the other Teen raised his head only slightly, dark eyes red-rimmed and tired, and nodded fractionally,

 

"Y-y.." He tried, weakly clearing his throat, "Yes... _Please_.."

 

Without hesitation, Lafayette gently took one of Alex's smaller hands in one of his, adding the other when he realised how cold the Teen was. Taking the opportunity, John sat in front of Alex and smiled reassuringly at him, " _Hi_." He said calmly, "I...am gonna ask you a few things, 'kay? Just try your best to answer, please.." Hesitantly, Alex nodded, and John continued, "Do you know where you are?"

 

A nod, his eyes flitting quickly around his surroundings, never once landing on John or Lafayette, "In...In the bathroom, at school. In..Virginia." He sounded exhausted.

 

"Great, Alex." John nodded, "And...the date? Year, month, day?"

 

This one took Alex a moment, "2017, October, uh, _18th_?" He sounded as if he had guessed the last part,

 

"Okay. Do you..." He paused. He knew that if someone was trained- self or otherwise- to come out of flashbacks quickly, you could ask them if they wanted to talk about it, but John couldn't bring himself to ask, for both himself and Alex, "Do you think you can stand?"

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a look of realisation cross Laf's features, and decided to ask him about it later, as Alex averted his eyes, cheeks reddening as he took his hand away from Lafayette's and braced it against the closed toilet seat, ignoring both John and Laf's outstretched arms as he tried to push himself up, teeth digging into his lower lip with either concentration or pain until after a few moments, he got to his feet. Frankly, John hadn't even expected the teenager to get this far, and was not surprised when Alex's legs failed to support him and Lafayette managed to catch him before he fell. Alex flinched away from the Frenchman's hold, and instead braced himself against the stall wall, surprising the other two boys by managing to remain upright on his trembling legs.

 

"That's..." John started, shaking his head in barely concealed awe and offering a smile, standing up after Alex had, " _Great_ , and unexpected."

 

"'m full of surprises." Alex murmured, the trace of some sort of accent hinted in his tired voice subtle enough that John wasn't sure he'd even heard it, head bent and hair hiding his face like thin curtain.

 

"That you are." Lafayette began, then visibly swallowed, looking concerned and hesitant, "Petit Lion..."

 

Alex just shook his head slightly before stumbling out of the stall and leaning both of his hands on the sink area, head still down, _"I'm sorry.."_

 

"No, Alex..." John said sadly, gesturing with his head for Lafayette to follow him as he walked up to Alex, stopping before he got too close, "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. Nothing. _Okay_?"

 

"Listen to the man, Alexan- _Alex_. He is occasionally very smart." Laf added, wringing his hands together, looking anxious.

 

Alex took a short, shaky breath, the movement of his chest rising and falling being dramatized by the still quiet of everything else in the room, "I'm _sorry_. I.." He repeated, voice cracking midsentence this time, "I didn't- I...I'm sorry."

 

" _Oh, Alex_.." Something in Lafayette's tone made Alex's shoulders tense and then loosen, "Merde, _D'accord_ , May I...I mean, Am I allowed to..?" He trailed off, swallowing, and opened his mouth to continue, only to cut himself off with a soft inhale as Alex turned around very suddenly and threw his arms around him, face hidden in the taller teen's shoulder. Alex's shoulder's shook as he cried silently and let out small ' _sorry'_ s into the fabric of Lafayette's black jacket.

 

John watched the scene unfold, holding each of his elbows with the opposite hand as he pressed his mouth into a thin line in a vain attempt not to let the emotions he was feeling overwhelm him. He knew now wasn't the time for him to feel too much.

 

The door opened and Hercules entered, looking down at the two water bottles in his hand, unknowing of the scene he had just walked into, voice dropping into a whisper as he spoke, " _Hey_ , so I got two because one was from the machine in the cafeteria but we all know how dodgy that is and..." He trailed off when he raised his head and saw the three boys. When his eyes landed on Lafayette and Alex, his mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish before finally closing for good as he stepped silently across the bathroom towards John, who noticed Alex's fingers grip Lafayette's jacket a little tighter at the sound of Herc's footsteps. When Hercules stopped at John's side, the room once again fell silent. The only noises that dared to penetrate the silence were the rhythmic, metronomic drips of the sink's faucet and the soft, pained French murmurs of reassurance and patient love from Lafayette, private and spoke only for the ears of the still shaking Alex.

 

Some time passed- how much, John couldn't be sure. It could have been moments, or minutes, or an hour, but what he did know was that during the passage of time a few things had happened. Hercules had, having noted John's tense stature and poorly guarded emotions, threw one arm over the shorter teen's shoulders and pulled him closer, knowing that this was one of the established methods of keeping John grounded, and Alex had also slowly calmed down throughout the time, going from his silent sobs to a soft whispered conversation with Lafayette. A conversation that was completely in French.

 

Sluggishly, Alex withdrew from Laf with a small sniff and then raised his hand to cough a few times into it. John made a mental note to make sure they kept check of the cough, and also withdrew from under Hercules' arm, giving a grateful smile and then turning to Alex.

 

"Hey.." John spoke gently, hands going back to their positions on his elbows, and Alex lifted his head to look at him, eyes red-rimmed and slightly wide with something too similar to fear along with distrust, "Do you...want to talk about it?"

 

Alex swallowed, leaning back against the sinks and flitting his eyes around each member of the small group before dropping them to the floor, "I'm... sorry any of you had to see that." He started quietly, then cleared his throat and continued before anyone could object, slow, drained and deliberate, "I never would have wanted you to see me... to see me like that."

 

"Nah, Man.." Hercules was the first to oppose, "There's nothing wrong with being vulnerable. We all understand."

 

"Vulnerable." Alex repeated blandly in a low mutter under his breath, sounding like every syllable of the word had personally offended him.

 

"Yeah, Alex, vulnerable." John confirmed, " _Shit_ , I've lost count of the amount of times these guys have been there for me when I've been in a rough place."

 

" _Oui, Mon Ami_ , We have became quite sufficient in helping each other." Lafayette added, trading small smiles with both John and Herc before returning his gaze to Alex, "And now that you are one of us, Alexa-...Alex, we wish to help you as well."

 

Alex pushed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, "Why?" He asked, his voice quiet but firm. Genuinely curious, mildly suspicious and...heartbreakingly confused at the concept of someone wanting to help.

 

"Because _we care_." John answered, "Because _you deserve it_."

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

 

George rarely went through his own e-mail box, mostly to save time and avoid having to read the complaints and threatening or just plain hateful messages from people who do not wish to spend time hand writing a letter. Honestly, George finds himself more able to respect those who send him hate mail when said hate mail is presented on paper with nice handwriting. However, today he had came out of a meeting and decided to be fair and give his secretary, a Mr Joseph Reed, some time off from e-mails.

 

Recently, George had had his secretary trying to find a way to get information from the adoption agency about Alex, hoping that perhaps, with some persistence, they would have a sudden change of heart and give up everything Seabury was refusing to disclose. He had also originally requested for him to try and do some research on any way King could have interacted with Alex, but after a few hours it was clear that there was nothing, so that particular side-task fell into the background. With these extra tasks, it seemed only necessary to relieve Joseph of the boring but necessary task of combing e-mails for a few days.

 

It was 4pm, and George was sitting at his desk with his head being held up only by the hand propped against his chin as he tapped away at his keyboard, deleting yet another spam e-mail that had snuck into his primary folder, because apparently no one, not even senators, could be spared from the spam. It was a slow day at the office, but he would be home in a couple of hours. Moments after he finished reading a personal e-mail from one Philip Schuyler, his secretary knocked three times on the office doors before pushing them open and approaching the desk as George sat up straight.

 

_"Joseph_." He greeted, frowning slightly when he noticed the tense way the younger man's shoulders were set, "Is there something the matter?"

 

_"Sir_ ," Joseph started, hesitantly meeting George's eyes, "NYS adoption called back and encouraged us to get in touch with Mr Seabury again. I was going to transfer the call to your phone, but the man I was speaking to said it would be pointless because he did not have anything else to discuss."

 

"I see." George murmured, clasping his hands together and placing them under his chin, "Thank you for trying, Joseph."

 

After a moment of silence, Joseph shifted on his feet and spoke, "Forgive me, sir, I'm far from an expert, but surely it isn't permitted for them to withhold all information on this kid when you and Mrs Washington are his current guardians?"

 

Washington sighed and shook his head, "Sadly, I believe it is. While most people agree that it is in the child's best interest for their social worker to share with the foster parents all relevant information for the care of said child, the social worker, in the end, has the discretion over what is shared and with whom." He paused, running a hand down his face and then rubbing the side of his neck with it, "Alex's social worker seems to be withholding information not for Alex's best interest, but rather for someone else's- whether it is his or someone else's, we are unsure at the moment."

 

"Then perhaps if you were to appeal to his superiors and inform them that it would be benefit your ability to care for Alexander if you knew more of who he was and what had happened to him prior to when he met you." Joseph suggested, hands clasped right over left over his stomach as he stood in front of Washington's desk.

 

"You know, I think you're onto something." George said with a grateful smile, "Sometimes, Reed, I think I'd get nothing done if not for you."

 

"That's not true, Sir." Joseph said with a returning smile, eyebrow quirking slightly in an unconscious gesture that George had picked up on when he first hired Reed, a gesture that meant whatever he was going to say would be a joke or tease, "You're getting good with answering e-mails." And with that, he dropped a parting nod and made his way back out of the office, leaving George to chuckle to himself as he turned to his keyboard and opened Google, swiftly looking up how to get in contact with whoever was in charge of one Samuel Seabury. He had one very important phone call to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so short and I am infinitely apologetic for the amount of time it took me to update this. This seems to be a recurring theme that I h a t e.
> 
> I've been v v v sick over the last view weeks with a multitude of shitty things, and then I had to make up for the school work I missed, so I haven't even opened my laptop in almost a month oops haha  
> Though, I technically have had this over half finished since 2018 rolled in so really it should have been uploaded before February.
> 
> ((I AM V SELFISH TOO BTW SO I'M GOING TO PLUG MY OWN BIRTHDAY! IT WAS VALENTINES DAY AND IT WAS POSSIBLY ONE OF MY LEAST MEMORABLE, LEAST BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAYS EVER BUT LIKE WWJD AMIRITE?? I got zero baguettes.))
> 
> ALSO I HAVE MANY MANY IDEAS AND I DONT KNOW WHICH TO USE AND WHICH NOT TO I AM SO VERY LOST I HAVE LIKE SEVEN NOTES ON MY PHONE OF ONESHOT-TYPE THINGS THAT COULD FIT IN THIS BUT ONLY IF I DECIDE BUT I AM VEEEEERY INDECISIVE SORRY I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU <3 <3 <3 :) :)
> 
>  
> 
> p.p.p.s i apologize for any mistakes I'm bad at editing sorry <3


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oof oh wow haven't typed one of these in a while hello!  
> -  
> OKAY! BASICALLY, To summarise, They go home, be all cute and bro-y, Alex naps, theres some sad stuff and some Lams moments and isnt that just a summary of this entire fic y'all, George tries his best, some more sad stuff...me aggresively shippinh the Washington's...

"I still think we should call Martha- or George. Or you could just go to the nurse? Hell, even my _Abuela_ -"

 

"No, John." Alex objected, then swallowed, " _Please_."

 

The four boys were walking down the hall, which was mostly empty, seeing as everyone was in the last class of the day. Hercules was on the outside of the group, with Lafayette to his left, then Alex- who was still shaking slightly- was beside him, with John on his other side. Each of the boys had taken turns trying to convince Alex to let them call his foster parents and inform them of what had happened. Each time, Alex had refused. Then they tried to convince him to go to the nurse, though they weren't sure what she could do, a flaw to the plan which Alex had pointed out.

 

So they walked, hoping not to get noticed by any teachers as they strolled as leisurely as one teen who had just had one of the worst panic attack/ flashback episodes the other three teens had ever seen, though not the worst that that one teen had ever experienced, could stroll.

 

"Alright, but we're going back to the Washinghome and you're going to rest harder than anyone in the history of rest has ever rested." John said, not leaving room for negotiation.

 

"It wasn't even that bad..." Alex said quietly,

 

"Whether or not you want it, Alex, that is the final compromise." Lafayette said immediately,

 

"Guys, wait." Hercules  said, effectively stopping everyone in their tracks as he looked around the corner, making sure no one was there, "Alright, clear." And then they continued walking, "I'd be-"

 

"A great spy." Both Lafayette and John said in sync, and Alex looked up from the floor in confusion, then John let his head tip in Hercules direction, "We know."

 

Alex wanted to ask, but he didn't. Despite his objections, he was actually feeling pretty drained. Every step felt like he had weights attached to his ankles and his shaking hands were hanging loosely by his side, feeling too heavy to be placed anywhere else. He followed the other three boys without paying attention to their surroundings, or the conversation, and was momentarily disorientated when the cold air suddenly hit his face. Blinking in the sudden cool sunlight, he tuned back into the words being spoken.

 

"Fine. So, Herc would be the spy that infiltrates the enemy camp, Lafayette would be that one person just happy to be there-"

 

_"Non!_ I am a strategist!" Lafayette protested, and John sighed,

 

"Laf would be a 'strategist' that is just happy to be there, I would do literally nothing out of the normal but still get lots of credit, and Alex would probably end up starting on my level before rising up and leading the whole fucking thing, right, Alex?"

 

"I'm sorry, what?" He said slowly, feeling like an idiot for not following the conversation. His brain felt as tired as his limbs.

 

"If we were in the American Revolution." Lafayette elaborated, and Alex blinked, breathing out an amused, incredulous breath,

 

"Oh. I'd be an aide-de-camp." He said easily, hands coming together and fidgeting with each other,

 

"Ah, oui." Lafayette hummed, "I could see that."

 

"I wanna be an Aide-de-camp!" John proclaimed with an air of finality, "I'd be-"

 

" _Shot_ , John, you would be _shot_." Herc deadpanned, then grinned, "You'd be like 'Hey, don't worry, General, I'll just dodge all of the bullets on my way to deliver this shopping list to someone literally across the battle field in enemy territory because that totally can't wait!' and then you'd get shot."

 

"I-I would _not_!" John spluttered, then, after a moment of silence, continued, "So would Alex!"

 

"No, he wouldn't. Alex would be more careful-"

 

"No, John's right. I would deliver the shopping list." Alex said quickly, automatically, then cleared his throat and sniffed, averting his eyes and explaining himself in a rush, "Bullets can only do so much damage, and if the General is writing a shopping list whilst intense gunfire is going on then we must assume it's very important."

 

" _Bullets can only do so_...Yeah, they can _kill!_ " Hercules said disbelievingly,

 

"Yeah...But most bullet wounds in mass gunfire aren't lethal. If I got shot, I'd at least have time to deliver the shopping list before I bled out." Alex said as if he had thought about it before, which he had definitely not.

 

"Mon Ami, I think there is something ringing with your hypothetical priorities." Lafayette sounded warm and amused, unaware that the French phrase of 'There is something ringing', which typically meant that there was something wrong, did not translate well into English. Alex didn't want to push too hard by correcting him. He had already pushed the limits today.

 

"I suppose." He said, quieter than he had been speaking before, the tiredness in his bones creeping back, hands slipping into his pockets.

 

" _I_ think that logic is perfectly sound." It sounded like there was a shrug in John's voice, but Alex didn't turn his head to confirm this, "Why else would a General send a shopping list? It would probably be coded and, like, _super_ important."

 

"Listen, I just said shopping list because it's the first thing I thought of, it's not really that important to the situation." Hercules said with a small groan, but John cut him off at the end,

 

" _Ah, ah, ah!_ " He said loudly, "Yes it is. Enough so to warrant both me and Alex getting shot."

 

" _Hypothetically_ shot." Lafayette corrected, but the warm amusement seemed faker now,

 

"It's the thought that counts." John insisted.

 

\----

 

"Hello, New York State adoption, how can I help you?" A cheery, young sounding woman said from the desk opposite Alicia's, and she rolled her eyes. Marie, the owner of the cheery voice, had just started that day, and had yet to discover the corrupted, fucked up way their company actually worked. Alicia was jealous, she hated no longer being oblivious- she missed thinking she was part of a company that helped all kids equally.

 

"Yes, Sir, I can forward you to his secretary? No, Mr Washington, I don't think I can do that. No, I'm afraid I don't know her." Marie said, still happy when rejecting whatever the man was asking. It was disgusting. This Mr Washington was probably-

 

Alicia sat up straighter, remembering the conversation she had had the previous day over the phone with George Washington about his foster child, Alexander Hamilton, who was one of Samuel Seabury's- or as Alicia called him, _Sleezebury_ \- charges. Poor kid, even his vague-ass file gave away how much of a hard time he had had in life so far.

 

Shooting up from her swivel chair with a purpose she hadn't felt in a long time, she bumped Marie slightly out of the way and grabbed the phone from her hand, ignoring the "Hey!" from the new girl and holding up her hand in a 'Stop' gesture in front of her face.

 

"Hi, George Washington?" She said into the phone, voice a little breathless even though she'd done literally no exercise. She blamed it on her being so not used to actually feeling...hope. And excitement.

 

"Hello." The man said and, yes, that's definitely the same George Washington she'd spoke to, "Who is...Hold on, Alicia, right?"

 

"Yes, yes that's me." She said, smiling, ignoring the way Marie was complaining in the background about 'her' phone, "I heard Marie say your name and I was wondering if something had happened..." After a moment of silence, she blushed and caught herself on, "Sorry, you...don't have to answer it's probably none of my business. I can hand you back to-"

 

"No, no, Alicia. That's not..." George Washington said quieter, then he huffed out a laugh, "It's...refreshing to see that you care. I was, actually, asking for you from that girl- Marie, did you say?"

 

" _You were_?" Alicia said skeptically,

 

"Of course. You said to ask for you if we ran into any issue, and you seemed trustworthy." Washington sounded honest, and Alicia believed him.

 

"Oh, thanks. _Marie, shut up, go use my phone_." She said the last bit to Marie, her hand over the phone speaker, silencing the girl's complaints, before turning her attention back to the phone, face set, tone professional, "What's the problem?"

 

"Seabury is refusing to disclose _any_ information regarding Alex. I am perfectly aware of the guidelines in place that say he doesn't, strictly speaking, have to tell us anything, but I'm worried about my son- about Alex." There was a pause as George sighed, "I was wondering if you had access to the person who is directly in charge of Seabury? I can't find it online..."

 

"I see."  Alicia chewed on her lip for a moment before propping the phone between her ear and her shoulder and leaning forward to type quickly on Marie- who was on Alicia's phone now-'s computer, "I can do you one better than Mr _Sleezebury's_ \- I mean, _Seabury's_ , superior. I can get you Mr William White's _personal_ phone number. Stand up guy, Will, but not very involved."

 

"William White...the owner?" George asked, sounding surprised, and Alicia took pride in this reaction,

 

"Mhm. CEO of NYS adoption." She confirmed, "You got a pen on you?"

 

"What's your full name, if I may ask?"

 

"Stone. Alicia Stone."

 

"You, Alicia Stone, are _brilliant_." Washington said, "I have a pen ready now."

 

She read him out the number, and he began another tirade of thanking her.

 

"Really, Mr Washington, I'm glad to be helpful." She paused, deliberating her next words, "Also... my friends call me Lucy."

 

"Lucy? How did you get Lucy from Alicia, if you don't mind me asking?"

 

"How do you get Dick from Richard?" She replied, and George laughed on the other end of the phone, "People called me Licy for a while, which turned into Lucy."

 

"Well, Lucy Stone, If we run into any further roadblocks, may I?-" Before Washington could even finish his sentence, she was speaking,

 

"Of _course_ you can call me. I'd be honoured to help you help Alexander in any way. That's why I work here, after all."

 

"I ought to get you in contact with my wife, you'd get along so well." George said with a hint of laughter, "Also, he seems to prefer Alex."

 

Alicia smiled, "I hope you get what you need, and _Alex_ gets the life he deserves. Goodbye, Mr Washington."

 

 

~~~*~~~

 

The school wasn't _that_ far from the Washington's home, but the walk seemed to drag on forever.

 

Alex had that feeling in the back of his throat that had him clearing it painfully every couple of minutes when it got too much, accompanied with a sniff and, on one or two occasions, a sneeze. All three of the other boys said 'Bless you' in unison, but Alex certainly did _not_ feel blessed. He was hyper aware of every sound he made, and tried to hold them off until there was a moment it was possible they might not be noticed- like when a particularly loud car passed, or dogs barked. Alex thought that by doing that he'd been flying under the other teens' radars. He was, unfortunately, incorrect.

 

"That sounds like a _really_ shitty cold, man, have you got, I don't know, medicine or something?" Hercules asked, and Alex had a brief thought about whether or not throwing himself into the oncoming traffic would be a sufficient way out of another conversation about him.

 

"Uh, yeah." He said instead, and resisted the urge to sniff again, "I'm fine."

 

"Mon papa was also worried about the _'cold'_ ," Lafayette spoke, not picking up on Alex's _'please, please don't_ ' vibes for the first time since they met, air quotes obvious in his voice, "So he took Alexa- Alex to the doctor and he got medicine. Did you take it today?" He directed the last part at Alex, who nodded without hesitation, though he wasn't all that sure if he had... "Good."

 

"Is it just a cold?" John questioned, sounding concerned, and Alex's eyes shut for a second longer than necessary when he blinked, wanting this conversation to end, "I mean, it's just that I heard you clear your throat earlier and it sounded real shitty. Did it hurt?"

 

"No, I'm fine." Alex lied, fighting hard to try and keep the bone deep tiredness he was feeling out of his voice. This conversation, however simple and innocent it was, was making him feel...overwhelmed. It was stupid. He was being stupid, he scolded himself, and petty. They were just making conversation, he had no right to act like a child, even if it was just in his mind. He needed to pull himself together. "Thank you, though." He finished, politely.

 

"You _sure_?" Herc prompted, and Alex tilted his head to give him a small, very fake, hopefully reassuring smile.

 

"I am, thanks."

 

Lying was a lot of effort, sometimes, but it was worth it.

 

\-------

 

Originally the plan had been to send Alex up to bed to rest, because the little lion was very obviously exhausted _(-- at least, it was obvious to Lafayette. On the walk back, he had caught the teen's eyelids drooping a few times before his dark eyes directed themselves to the ground and his forehead creased with the downward movement of his eyebrows as he caught himself on)_ , but that plan burned and died whenever all four of them ended up on the sofa, watching the calmest, nicest Disney movie they could think of: The newer, live action Beauty and the Beast. They had wanted to watch the animated version, but the DVD was lost.  
                                                                                                                                                                        
Lafayette was sitting with his head rested lightly against Hercules', there not being enough room on the couch for him to spread out enough to place it on his boyfriend's shoulder, with John on his other side and Alex on John's other side, the four teen's sitting in the same order as the previous movie day. Alex had pulled his feet up onto the sofa with his knees bent, leaning slightly to the side against the arm of the couch with tired eyes watching the television as the Disney intro began to play, his hands swallowed up by the slightly too-long sleeves of his hoodie as they rested in his lap, long fingers occasionally coming out to pick at a newly loosened thread as the other three teenagers spoke.

 

" _La Belle et la Bête_ is truly a Disney masterpiece." Lafayette said with a large smile, "A beautiful, _classic_ fairy tale. _Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve_ was a genius."

 

"You just like it 'cause it's in France." John teased as a hand came forward to snatch a rose on the screen, the narration beginning.

 

"Oui, and it is also a great story." Lafayette said, then made a face after a few moments, "The prince's makeup is terrible. I refuse to believe any of my people- however rude they may be- would wear it like _that_."

 

" _That's_ what you have an issue with about the prince?" Hercules said, watching the ballroom of women in white begin to dance. After a moment of silence on the part of the Teenagers, Alex flinched when the 'haggard old women' banged on the window with her staff, though refused to acknowledge it as he listened to the narration again, trying to ignore the glances the other three Teen's gave him.

 

The view panned over the old fashioned town as Emma Watson began singing, and Lafayette grinned, waiting for the song to reach the point before he could- "Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour, Bonjour-"

 

" _Bonjour!_ " John finished, and the two boys giggled, drawing a half-smile from Alex and a grin from Hercules.

 

They watched in pleasant silence for another moment before, again without announcement, Lafayette grabbed John's arm and shook it, " _I need six eggs_!" He cried in time with the person on the screen, and John slapped his hand away lightly,

 

" _That's too expensive!_ " John cried right back, sounding equally as distressed while Hercules, still grinning, drew a cackling Lafayette back towards him with a loud ' _Shh_!', claiming that he wanted to watch the movie. So they did. They watched in comfortable silence as the movie drew on, past the first song, past Belle's father leaving for the market and past Belle singing about wanting adventure. It was clear that Alex was struggling to stay awake by the frequent blinks and the way he kept shaking his head minutely, but he was evidently very, very reluctant to actually let himself fall asleep, possibly because he wanted to actually watch the movie that had just started not even twenty minutes ago and yet had caught his attention already.

 

"Lumière is my favourite." Lafayette announced in a whisper when the candelabra was picked up by Belle's father, and there was a general hum of agreement from both those who had seen the movie and those who hadn't.

 

"Do you like him because he is one of the only things with a French accent?" John teased again, also in a whisper, and Lafayette reached deftly to flick his friend's arm,

 

_"Non_ , I like his _kind-hearted, charismatic, rebellious_ and _witty_ personality." The Frenchman corrected, causing John to laugh once and then cover his mouth with his hand,

 

" _You_...have a _crush_...on a _candle_." He said slowly, pointing at him, taking great delight in the affronted look on Laf's face,

 

"He- he is a _candelabra_!" He objected, and John gave up on trying to contain his laughter.

 

"Herc, a fictional _'candelabra'_ is gonna steal your man!" He choked out, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

 

Hercules pursed his lips and shrugged, "I'd hit that, I can share." He announced without shame, causing John's laughter to return tenfold, "Now, _sh_ , the dad just got attacked by the beast and neither of you even noticed!" 

 

Alex, of course, had noticed, since the loud noises the beast created were hard to ignore, and aiding in keeping him awake. The collective silence as Belle got on the white horse- Philippe, only lasted so long, because as soon as Lumière was back on screen with Cogsworth, claiming Belle could be 'The One', John was making kissy faces and repeating _'The one who breaks the spell!'_ in a very exaggerated, fake French accent which had Lafayette shoving at him playfully before curling back up into Herc's side, the silence continuing even when Lumière broke Belle out of her cell with the reluctant aid of Cogsworth, but momentarily broken when Lumière insisted that he was a candelabra, not a candle, causing Lafayette to huff out a 'told you so'.

The next break in the silence was, unsurprisingly, John making another Lumière joke. When the candelabra dipped the feather duster, claiming that she made him _'so weak'_ , John wasted no time draping himself over the Frenchman's lap with his legs over Alex, a hand on his forehead as he repeated the line in the same terrible French accent as earlier until he was forced upright by a blushing, yet chuckling, Lafayette, his legs swinging off of Alex and placing his feet back onto the floor- much to the disappointment of the smaller teen. The comfortable silence continued.        

 

Unfortunately for Alex, the silence and stillness from the other three boys made it harder and harder for him to open his eyes each time he blinked. The last thing he heard before falling asleep was his own sleepy cough and Lumière announcing, _"After all, Miss, this is France..."_

 

~~~*~~~

 

"Is he asleep?" Hercules whispered, being, for the first time, the one to break the silence. Lafayette stretched his neck out to try and look, but John just had to tilt his head down to see. Alex had indeed fallen asleep, his head tilted back and slightly to the side, lips parted as he breathed softly through his mouth, making a quiet noise that made John think his cough was worse than he was letting on, face relaxed in a way it never was when the smaller teen was awake.

 

"Yeah, he is." John confirmed, then paused, "Do you think he's going to snore?"

 

" _What?_ " Laf questioned, sounding confused, "Why-"

 

"His nose is _super_ blocked." John explained, "So he's breathing through his mouth, which would usually be enough to make someone snore, but then he's also making this noise that means there is definitely mucus and shit in his throat..."

 

"I'd be surprised if he didn't snore, then." Hercules confirmed, then continued, softer, "He is full of surprises, though, so..."

 

"That's true." Lafayette's tone was also soft, even softer than usual, as he swallowed and admitted, "I am worried."

 

Those three words held _much_ more meaning to the three boys awake on that sofa than they would to any others. Lafayette was not one to hide his emotions, but he was also not one to show them as clearly as some, even if it seemed he was. He was the kind that could talk endlessly about anything if he needed to, but, in moments of vulnerability, could summarise a speech about what he was feeling into very few words and still get the point across. His words were easily injected with hidden meanings meant only for those close enough to understand.     

       

"I understand." Hercules said, and he did.

 

"Me too." John added, and he did, too.

 

"We...How can we help?" Lafayette continued, now ignoring the movie playing in front of them, the matter of finding a way to help Alex taking priority over the montage of the Beast and Belle falling in love. "Do you think there is something we can do?"

 

"We need to be there for him, mostly." John said, sounding sure but quiet, "We can't push him into talking, but we need to be patient and calm. We...can't isolate him or let him isolate himself. We need to be prepared to listen if he does decide to talk, and we can't invalidate whatever he has gone through, _obviously_." He paused, "If it's bad enough that this level of PTSD has been established, with flashbacks, then we have to be prepared for trust issues. It's honestly really, _really_ touching that he has already let us be around him when he's most vulnerable."

 

Both of the other boys nodded, then Lafayette asked, with an attempt at lightness, "Anything else, _Doctor_ Laurens?"

 

"We need to watch out for triggers. Stuff like sights, sounds, people, dates, times, words or phrases and situations are known as 'external' triggers, and stuff like hunger, fatigue, sickness, feelings that remind him of the, uh, the trauma, like pain or...or old wounds, strong emotions like helplessness, or strong emotions, especially towards close friends and family, like us, I guess, including mixed feelings of love and vulnerability." John paused and very carefully raised his hand to run it through his hair, "If...if scaring him off wasn't a _major_ problem, asking him about triggers would be a good idea, or even asking what's alright to do during panic attacks or flashbacks..."

 

"Right." Hercules said with a nod, "I think I got most of that. Where'd you learn about this stuff?"

 

John was silent for a moment, "You know that I want to be a doctor, eventually," He started, "And mental health has always seemed interesting and important. I have researched it before, yeah, because, _you know_ , it could come in handy, but when Alex came, I did some more... _in depth_ research."

 

"Alright, prepare yourself." Was the only warning John got from Lafayette before the French teen had shifted to hug him, "You are amazing, John, and we are all _so_ lucky to have you."

 

~~~^~~~

 

When the movie ended, the three boys that were awake stayed where they were, instead of getting up to change the movie, and spoke in soft, quiet voices so as not to wake the one boy who was asleep.

 

Alex was an unnaturally still sleeper, or at least to John he was. He was sleeping with his head tilted back against the soft back of the couch, the way it had been since he first drifted off, his hands were rested one on top of the other, the way they had been since he passed out, and his legs pulled up onto the sofa, knees bent upwards, the way they had been since he fell asleep... And he hadn't moved an inch. John shifted so his hip was no longer in contact with Alex's, baring the cold in that spot for his little experiment, but Alex still didn't move at all. Not even to accommodate the freed space. Not _one_ inch.

 

John knew that people moved in their sleep because it is our bodies way of telling us that we are not comfortable, and that a change of position- small or great- could be important. Looking at the way Alex was sleeping, he _couldn't_ be comfortable. He was going to wake up with one hell of a sore neck, and definite leg cramps,  but...it was as if his body just didn't care.

 

"We _gotta_ move him." John whispered to Hercules and Lafayette, not taking his eyes off Alex, "If we don't, he's gonna have a crick in his neck sent straight from hell."

 

"But he is so... _peaceful._ " Laf argued quietly, "I do not want to wake him."'

 

"But you're right about the neck pain." Hercules countered, "What could we do to move him as little as possible, while still helping with the neck issue?"

 

"Depends how deep a sleeper he is.." John half-murmured, "Is he a deep sleeper?"

 

"I picked him up when he fell asleep last, and he remained asleep, but it _could_ change. I guess we'll find out one way or another." Laf said, cracking his fingers ominously. For a moment, no one spoke.

 

"Um, okay, any one else mildly terrified of Laf right now?" John said, still quiet, and Hercules silently raised his hand, resulting in a small giggle from Lafayette.

 

" _Oui_ , good." He whispered cheerfully, "Mon Lion is easy to lift, so if we are making the decision to move him far-"

 

"I don't think we should." John said, hesitantly, "It's just, _you know, speculation_ , but waking up somewhere different _could_ make him panic..."

 

"So he wont wake up somewhere different." Herc confirmed, "I could try and...manhandle him into lying down? Like, head on the arm of the chair and legs over John- _If_ you're alright with it, of course.."

 

"Hercules, _Mon Cher_ , I believe our John is _very_ alright with it." Laf said softly, and John had to restrain himself from spluttering, though he felt his cheeks heat up.

 

"Shut up." He muttered, craning his neck to look at Herc, "I think that's a good idea."

 

"Right." Hercules said softly, and Lafayette sat up to allow him to stand up and walk over to Alex, "What...what if I'm not gentle enough and he wakes up?"

 

"You're sufficiently gentle, _Mon choux_." His boyfriend promised, slipping onto the floor, and John kinda-snorted quietly.

 

" _Cheers_ , love." Herc replied, leaning forward, leaning back again, and then leaning forward again and hesitantly putting one arm under Alex's legs, a hand slipping under the small teen's head as he carefully started to maneuver him. The larger boy hadn't been prepared for Alex to turn his head to the side so his face was half pressed against Hercules' wrist, twisting into his grasp and muttering something too quiet for Herc to hear. He almost didn't want to set the smaller boy down.

 

"That's adorable." Lafayette murmured, and Hercules nodded as he let Alex's head slip from his hand onto the sofa, legs, still curled, draped over John's lap, his dark eyebrows twitching downwards and breaking the peaceful mask that had fallen over his face as his lips moved once again to mumble incoherently.

 

"That wasn't all English." John said, sounding curious, then amused, " _Of course_ he sleep talks in multiple languages."

 

"If we are quiet enough, maybe he will tell us _secrets._ " Lafayette whispered, jokingly, but they all fell silent to listen anyway. Alex shifted a little as John's hand rested on his ankle, and he mumbled one more time.

 

"Wasn't English." Hercules confirmed,

 

"Wasn't Spanish." John added, and they both turned to Lafayette, who, for a moment, looked troubled and a little sad, before his expression evened out,

 

"Mostly French. _A little_ of something not-French too." He confirmed, toying with an extra hair band he kept on his wrist, "He was, uh...He is dreaming of his maman. He asked her to stay. He...said it was cold, but she is warm. Then the other words that I could not understand."

 

" _Oh_." The two other boys said in unison.

 

"Do you think...Will he hear me if I speak?" Lafayette wondered, remembering being half awake when Alex told Martha that his mother was French.

 

"You could always try." John encouraged, and Laf moved forward on the floor he was already sitting on to be closer to Alex, ignoring John as he continued on to whisper, " _God_ , This is so cheesy."

 

" _ **Alexander...**_ " He spoke softly, changing into quiet French, " **We are here. This cold you speak of? _Ignore it_. Focus on the _light_ , and the _heat_ , and the _love_.** "

 

Alex didn't respond, but Lafayette thought he saw the smaller teen's face relax more again. He liked to think he had just prevented a nightmare before it took place.

 

"Anyone _else_ noticing how we've become the Alex Protection Squad?" John asked, quiet and soft, a chuckle in his voice, and the two other teens nodded, "And we've only known him for a few days?"

 

"Me neither." Herc agreed,

 

"Same here." Lafayette also agreed softly, "Same here.."

 

"Also- And this is unrelated," John said, voice quiet but tuned to break the tension, "But are we gonna ignore that he sleep talks in something other than the two languages he said he's fluent in?"

 

\--------

 

Alex woke up when a door was shut. Though _immediately_ aware, he didn't dare to open his eyes yet, instead taking in his surroundings. His head was pillowed on something surprisingly soft, given the position he was sure he'd drifted off in, and there was a warmth below his left shin- given that he was lying on his side, it was not surprising. He took a moment to swear colourfully at himself in his head for falling asleep ( _again_ ) in front of various people he barely knew ( _though he was stupid enough to fucking trust_!), and even worse, in the main living space of two adults that he also didn't know.

 

The next thing he paid attention to was the conversation currently going on around him.

 

"-from Benjamin Franklin, informing me that he had come to speak with Alex about his entry test scores, only to find he was _gone_. And so were you three." George Washington was saying, voice carefully lowered in what Alex was sure was an attempt to not wake him. But Alex was awake, and listening, so he knew that it was very possible his stupid, irrational panic had not only caused the three other boys inconvenience, but also he had possibly got them in trouble. Unaware of Alex's self loathing inner thoughts, George continued, "Care to explain?"

 

"Mr Wash-" Hercules started, but Lafayette was quick to interrupt,

 

" _Non_ , Alex did not wish for us to share with you." The Frenchman said quietly and apologetically, and Alex felt a rush of affection for the Teen for respecting his wish for privacy like few others ever had.

 

"But it was _bad_ , and he needed to be home." John finished, and he barely restrained a flinch as a hand landed on his ankle and a thumb started to rub slow circles on the skin there. After a moment, he concluded that the his feet were...on John's lap. What the fuck? Did they move him?

 

"He would have stayed in school, Mr Washington, but we _knew_ he needed to be home." Herc added softly, persistently, as if begging for understanding while stating that he stood by his choice no matter what Washington said.

 

A sigh from Washington had Alex considering jumping up in front of the three teenagers and admitting to George that it was all his fault. Be mad at him, not them.

 

"Alright." The man said faintly, voice full of something Alex couldn't identify, "You made a good choice, but I _can't_ condone leaving school without informing someone. If... _If_ this happens again, call me so I can make an excuse."

 

Alex could almost feel the disbelief and joy radiating from the boys- he was contributing to it. Mostly the disbelief part, though.

 

"No problemo, G-Wash." John promised, a smile in his voice and his thumb stopped rubbing the skin around Alex's ankle for a moment to instead just rest there, completely still. A terrible voice in the back of his mind reminded him just how easy it would have been for them to hurt him- to do anything to him- while he was asleep. He's only been here a few days, and yet he had let his guard down more than ever before. It was as if his body was conspiring against him. He never slept this much _ever_.

 

"Alright." Washington said again, and his voice softened, "How long has he been asleep?"

 

"Only an hour and a half, I believe." Laf answered, "Why are you home so early?"

 

"The work that I need to be in office to get done is done." Alex imagined that George shrugged here, but didn't care, once again pondering how he'd managed to end up with his most admired senator. He should think himself lucky, but his like for the man will make it more painful when he comes to hate Alex. "So, I thought I'd get home early and tie up some loose ends in my office."

Alex moved his head slightly, beginning to feel restless and hoping to be subtle enough that they wouldn't know he was awake, and George's voice trailed off. He could practically feel the eyes on him, and worked hard to keep his face loose and calm. He's still asleep. He can't hear them. _Awake? What is that?_

 

"Is he uncomfortable?" Washington wondered aloud, and John's thumb began to move once more. It was nice.

 

"Nah, I _hope_ not." The teenager in questioned dismissed, before sounding a little more nervous, "Maybe we should have moved him to the bed."

 

" _Non_ , John, you made the correct choice." Laf reassured him, and Alex felt yet another rush of affection for his f- for the teens. Whatever John's reasons for them not moving him had been, he was glad that they didn't. Falling asleep with people and then waking up alone... _sucked._

 

"Yeah, man." Hercules confirmed, "You know your sh- _stuff_."

 

"I'm missing something _, yeah_?" George pretty much stated, and Alex noted how his voice had gotten closer to behind the sofa- he hated it, but what could he do? Open his eyes, turn around and politely state ' _Hello, kind sir, I would greatly appreciate it if you would take a few sizable steps away because I am majorly fucked up and can't handle the unpredictability of having someone larger than me out of my sight.'?_ No.

 

"Nothing important, _papa_." Lafayette said sweetly, "If you have work to do, we wont keep you.."

 

A chuckle, and then retreating footsteps. Maybe he made a gesture before he left? It would certainly make more sense than him just leaving. Either way, Alex felt the anxious feeling retract slightly from his chest and started to wonder how he was supposed to wake up.

 

Not wanting to make a habit out of eavesdropping on the people who were kind enough to take him in, Alex staged yet another fake wake up. He turned his face to the side and half rubbed it against the arm of the couch as if he was trying to nuzzle further into it, and was _just_ about to open he eyes when-

 

"Okay, yeah, I agree, that was a _little bit_ adorable." Someone whispered, too low to discern who, and Alex fought so hard to stay calm and not blush at the words.

 

Determined to stay on track with his waking up, Alex twitched his eyebrows downwards and slowly let his eyes open, blinking sleepily before turning his head forward and looking at the three faces staring at him, restraining a slight flinch at the attention. After a moment, he propped himself up on one elbow and held a fist to his mouth to stifle a yawn.

 

"Welcome back to the land of the living, man." John said softly, and Alex frowned lightly,

 

"Thanks, S...I'm sorry for, _uh_ , falling asleep _again_." He said genuinely, hoarsely, hesitantly, carefully swinging his legs off of John and dismissing the disappointment on the boy's face as a trick of the light, "I...I hope I didn't keep you from doing anything important.."

 

"Nah, don't sweat it." Hercules dismissed, shrugging, his words backed up by the frantic nodding of Lafayette's head.

 

" _Okay_ ," Alex's voice was rough from the build up in his throat, the tickle having grown and mutated into something worse, apparently, and he held a hand to his mouth once again to clear his throat, not coughing fully yet. Looking back, he didn't think he had taken his three-a-day pill at all today. Oh well, he had survived worse with less. ( _But your mother hasn't- didn't_ , a voice in the back of his head reminded him, and he promptly ignored it)

 

" _Worse_?" Lafayette asked, and Alex shrugged.

 

"Not that bad."

 

John winced sympathetically at the rasp of the other teen's voice as he spoke, "You sound like a cheese grater."

 

"How does one sound like an inanimate, non-verbal kitchen equipment?" Lafayette questioned, and John snorted, Hercules shaking his head fondly.

 

"He sounds rough, Laf." Herc said, gently pushing his shoulder against his boyfriend's.

 

Clearing his throat once more, more painfully than the day before, Alex was quick to move the conversation along, "Did...you move me?"

 

"Yeah, we didn't want you to wake up all achy and you weren't moving to make yourself comfortable, so..." John shrugged, and Alex tried- and failed- to ignore the warmth spreading in his chest again at that. They were... _too_ nice. There had to be a catch _somewhere_. Alex was aware that he was being too open with these people, letting himself sleep in front of them, panic in front of them, be weak in front of them, it was pathetic- but he couldn't stop himself. Half of his body was shouting to trust these people, to let them in, but the rational part was calmly explaining why that was a shitty idea with a 5 page long list, including the fact that these people could ruin his life.

 

Sitting up straighter, Alex decided that starting now, he would start to listen to the more rational part- Just to test it out. Just to be _safe_. He would pull out all the precautions.

 

In this home, he could be ' _good_ ', he could keep them distant enough to _not_ hate him. In this house, he would stay safe.

 

Outside of the house, in school, perhaps...perhaps then he could start to return to himself.

 

\---

 

Everyone noticed the subtle shift in Alex for the rest of the day. Where they had originally been making progress, getting longer replies, trust, smiles, they were now getting a polite, even more quiet, detached teen.

 

Martha got home with the right supplies to make Spaghetti and meatballs, and when they sat at the dinner table, Alex started to eat last, and Martha, John, and Lafayette all noticed him looking mournfully at the food when he was only halfway finished and hiding a wince at every bite he took after this. He finished the food, and meekly excused himself, swiftly leaving the room.

 

"He seems a little off." George commented, turning his eyes to Lafayette and eating a meatball, swallowing it before continuing, "Do you think it's because of that-" He froze up, glancing at his wife before turning back to Laf and, jesus, this man was terrible with secrets, " _Thing._ "

 

"Oh, a ' _thing_ '?" Martha repeated slowly, raising her eyebrows at George, who closed his eyes with a sigh.

 

"We made Alex leave school early." Lafayette answered for his Dad, " _But_ he did not wish for us to tell you."

 

"Alright. Do you believe it was the right thing to do?" Martha asked, voice curious.

 

"Yes." All three boys answered immediately.

 

"And do you believe that the information you are withholding is dangerous to Alex?"

 

A moment of silence.

 

"No." John said softly, "Well, _yeah_ , but his trust and privacy doesn't need to be, you know, broken for us to help."

 

"Alright." Martha repeated, smiling small, "And, _if_ it becomes immediately dangerous...?"

 

"If we need to tell you, we will." Hercules promised.

 

"Good." Martha stated, pleased, and they all finished their dinner.

 

\-----

John and Hercules both went home, and Lafayette excused himself to bed earlier than usual, wanting to check on Alex after he didn't come back downstairs. He knocked three times on the door and waited, but no immediate answer came. He knocked again, a little more urgently, and, yet again, there was still no answer. Becoming increasingly worried, the Frenchman hoped Alex would understand and forgive the intrusion and placed his hand on the door handle, pushing it open.

 

The door didn't open. It didn't move at all. It was _locked_.

 

"Alexander? Uh, _Alex_?" Lafayette tried, panic seeping into his tone, "Are you okay?"

 

Soft footsteps rapidly approached the door and the click of a lock made Laf relax significantly as the door opened and Alex's face- tired, anxious, cheeks flushed- came into view, "I'm sorry... I didn't hear you knocking."

 

But he heard him talking. As fake as it seemed, Laf was sure Alex had a reason for lying.

 

"That's alright, do not apologize." Lafayette said reassuringly, "I just wanted to check up on you. You left _quite_ abruptly."

 

"Oh, _that_. Y-yeah, sorry about that, I just...eating tires me out. _Sorry_." Alex had stepped back to give Laf room to enter, but he made no move to do so. The door had been locked to prevent entry, and Alex didn't seem like he wanted visitors- not that Laf was taking it personally. He understood.

 

"It is alright." Lafayette repeated and smiled, "Are you alright?"

 

"I'm fine, thank you." Alex offered a smile back- Tired and _real_ around the edges- and Laf nodded.

 

"Get some rest, _Mon Lion_ ," He suggested in a soft voice, smile matching his tone, "You deserve it after today."

 

He noticed the way Alex's face faltered before nodding, but didn't vocalize his curious concern, "Thank you, I will. Sleep well, Lafayette."

 

"You too, Alexan- _Alex_." Laf turned to walk away,

 

"You can, uh, I mean if you want, you can call me...Alexander." The teen's voice was hesitant, the name quiet on his tongue, and when Laf turned curiously to him, he flushed and shrugged, "It...doesn't sound _as_ horrible with your...your accent. I'm sorry, that makes _no_ sense, I shouldn't have s-"

 

"It makes perfect sense, _Alexander_." Lafayette exchanged a small, genuine smile, assuming the comfort of his accent was because of Alex's mother, "Sleep well."

 

Alex smiled back slightly, and the door closed again, the foreign noise of the lock clicking echoing through the hall.

 

\-----

When all of the teenagers were gone, and it was just George and Martha alone in the kitchen with matching mugs of tea in their hands, they finally spoke freely.

 

"I made another call to NYS adoption today." George started, taking a sip from his mug and wincing when he was reminded that it was still _far_ too hot to be consumed.

 

" _Oh?"_ Martha prompted, half-smiling at her husband's mistake but also seeming very business-like now that they were speaking about Alex, "And how did it go?"

 

"Better than last time." George said with a small nod, and the way his wife's eyebrows both twitched downwards showed hum that she wanted to know more, "The girl that I spoke with before- _Alicia, wonderful girl, you'd like her_ \- was there again, and she provided me with the personal number of a Mr William White."

 

"The CEO?" Martha reiterated, then whistled lowly, "That's a _big_ step forward. If we lodge an official request with him, and go about it the right way, Seabury wont have a choice but to hand over the documents."

 

George was silent for a moment, looking into his tea. Martha, as always, knew exactly what he was thinking about.

 

"We _should_ ask Alex before calling White, though, I agree." She vocalized their joined thoughts, "I would _much_ rather he trusts us with the information himself, but having us read it without him having to go over details could be easier."

 

"He- I- _Jesus_ , Martha, the kid had to leave school today because ' _something_ ' happened," George ran a hand over his head, "He was _s_ o excited about being in school and, and he had to come home. It was bad enough that he agreed to go home- and then immediately fell asleep. I just- I wanna help him, but I don't know how to. I, I just don't feel like I'm being the kind of father figure he needs.. "

 

Martha smiled at her husband, setting her mug down and taking his off him to set it down too. She cupped his face in both of her hands- warm from holding the mug- and bent his face down to look at her, " _You are an excellent father, George Washington._ I feel as powerless as you do, Honey, but even though Alex is more complex that Gil was when he came to us, they both require the same care. For now, we just need to show him that we are here for him, that we wont be going anywhere."

 

"Alright- Of course." George smiled back and bent down to kiss his wife, one of his hands coming up to rest on top of hers and the other placing itself on her waist, "I love you."

 

"I love you, too."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE'S OUR USUAL FLURRY OF ME APOLOGIZING FOR NEGLECTING THIS FIC!
> 
> I AM SOOOOOOOO SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING!
> 
> Caps lock off, now. In truth, I have had over half of this written since the day after I published the last chapter, but I have had precious little free time and when I do have said free time I have been writing little side projects that might never even see the light of day (A Hamilton text fic, Supernatural shit... The usual) so that was me accidentally bumping this to the side. I'm also in the middle of preparing for super important exams, so that is great too, because I'm totally not stressed at all! Mental health = totally intact :)))))
> 
> Thanks to all of you for baring with me through this mess <3 As always, if I have made any big errors in my semi-exhausted state, feel free to tell me in the comments!
> 
> Also, and this one is new, If anyone wants to chat or anything, my tumblr is also Impalaofthelord ;)) I'm super friendly, I swear!
> 
> Till next update, E.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, Thank you so so much for reading this far even though this is just a kinda shitty version of a gloriously overused AU!
> 
> I'm going to be updating as often as i can <3
> 
> Feel free to leave any comments or, dare i suggest, kudos?
> 
> Thanks again :)


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